How can I prepare my business or community for an outage?

Preparation for communities and businesses 

If you manage a business or a community such as a rest home, it’s important to plan for an outage. Here are some things you should consider when preparing for a power outage: 

BACK-UP POWER 

Generators: Consider installing a generator to keep essential services within the building operational, for example electronically accessed doors, lifts and emergency stairwell and hall lighting. 

Emergency Lighting: Check how long emergency and back-up lighting in egress areas and stairwells will last in the event of a power outage. 
  

BUILDING SECURITY 

If security doors and garage doors will not work in the event of an outage (e.g. you don’t have a generator connected) consider hiring a security guard. 

Ensure lifts are locked off prior to planned outages to prevent people from being trapped. Place a note on the lift doors to let people know. 

Share information with the people affected so they’re prepared for an outage and know the measures in place. 

If anyone is medically dependant on electricity, or are vulnerable, please make sure they have plans in place to manage during an outage. 

Install temporary automatic chargeable lanterns in areas that would normally be lit for common egress – particularly around fire escape routes, e.g. foyers, hallways, garages, main access doors (these can be obtained from most hardware stores). 

  

CAR ACCESS 

If garage doors and gates are electronic, open them before the outage, so people can access their cars. Alternatively, if there is a manual override, make sure everyone knows how to access it. 

Consider using a security guard to protect access to the building. 

  

PROTECT SENSITIVE EQUIPMENT 

Consider using a surge protection device to protect appliances such as digital screens and computers from power interruption. 

 
Check with equipment providers how to protect the equipment prior to a planned power outage and to protect against equipment such as pumps, electric doors and lifts turning off/restarting during an outage.