Electricity is a central need for every business’s operations, and protecting the systems that handle it is of the utmost importance. That said, knowing exactly what to prepare for can be difficult to say the least.
To that end, let’s explore some common threats facing your current power system, as well as what you can do to mitigate them.
1. Human error
While your employees are some of the most valuable assets your company has, they also have the ability to become the biggest liabilities. This isn’t to say they’re bad people. Rather, everyone makes mistakes, and it only takes one bad decision to completely disrupt the flow of power to your facility.
Many organizations have had to deal with their workers making mistakes that eventually cascaded into downtime. In fact, one employee in Washington D.C., accidentally turned off the power being routed to the 911 dispatch system. He was simply trying to stop an alarm concerning a water leak from sounding, and ended up turning off the calling service.
Of course, this mistake wasn’t the only thing to go wrong here. The 911 dispatch center was supposed to have a backup power system to mitigate the risks of something like this happening, and it would appear this solution failed.
That said, this should be a cautionary tale for any organization that doesn’t factor in the likelihood of human error. Any and all backup systems should be tested on a regular basis, and employees should be continuously reminded of their role in power downtime.
2. Power surges
“Only 2 percent of power surges come from lightning.”
Another problem that a lot of organizations have to face is the possibility of a power surge. While many people might consider something like a lightning strike to be the most common cause of this issue, this actually isn’t the case. According to the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety, only 2 percent of power surges come from lightning. In fact, the IBHS found that between 60 and 80 percent of these failures come from some kind of malfunction occurring within the organization’s internal energy system.
Clearly, a proper flow of energy is a huge deal when it comes to ensuring uptime of services. A simple spike in voltage due to an internal breakdown event can cause massive delays. Thankfully, these kinds of issues can be mitigated through the use of a robust uninterruptible power supply unit along with quality surge protection devices. These machines are meant to help keep your equipment online following such a surge.
3. Improper maintenance
This being understood, many issues that eventually develop into severe problems in a power system’s environment can often be stopped in their tracks through periodic examination from trained experts. In fact, a wide variety of problems can be spotted by a professional if they are given the chance to actually get their hands on the equipment in a facility’s electrical environment.
This is why it’s so vital for organizations to have a partner dedicated to ensuring the safety of their local power solution. At Energy Control Systems, we’re proud of the vast amount of experience our technicians have, and we’re sure that they can help you protect the integrity of your operations and be instrumental in improving your power quality.