Protecting Commercial Equipment in Winter

Nothing can cause more damage to your commercial equipment in winter than harsh snow and ice. Heavy snowstorms in recent winters caught many business owners off guard. Autumn is the best time to prepare for the arrival of freezing temperatures, snow and ice that can damage commercial equipment and interfere with your operations.

Here are tips for protecting commercial equipment in winter:

• Inspect your roof – Record snow falls have led to roof collapses across the country so have your roof inspected to insure it can withstand snow falls. A structural engineer can determine the maximum loads your roof can withstand and provide practical solutions to improve roof strength. You may want to reinforce your roof if the design cannot withstand the anticipated snow load.
• Snow removal – Have trained snow removal teams and appropriate snow removal equipment available at commercial sites.
• Inspect your gutters – Heavy snow or ice can cause gutters to weaken and sag, leading them to break away from the building and allow for water intrusion. Inspect all gutters, hangers, spikes, guards and downspouts for securement.
• Prevent ice dams – Ice dams are ridges of ice that form at the edge of a roof or around drains and prevent melting snow from draining off the roof. You can prevent ice dams by increasing insulation above the ceiling, installing heating cables on the gutters, pruning trees that hang over roofs and improving ventilation with electric power vents.
• Protect pipes against freezing – Frozen pipes are the leading cause of property damage from winter weather. To help protect your pipes from freezing you can insulate pipes with pipe insulation, keep all exterior doors closed and ensure that all cracks, holes and other openings on exterior walls are sealed to prevent cold air from penetrating the wall cavity.
• Monitor water leaks – A monitored automatic excess flow switch can be placed on the incoming waterline to provide early detection of broken pipes or valves.
• Monitor interior temperature changes – Interior building temperature can be monitored by a monitoring company to insure prompt notification if the interior of the building reaches low temperatures during after hours or idle periods.
• Protect unheated rooms –UL-approved gas or electric heaters can be installed in unheated rooms.
• Monitor fire sprinkler systems – Indoor and outdoor fire sprinkler systems should be monitored to provide early detection of a sprinkler pipe rupture due to freezing. Commercial storage sheds – commercial storage sheds.
• An economical way to protect your equipment in winter is with a commercial storage shed that is steel framed and will protect vehicles and supplies from severe winter weather, including snow and hail.

Follow these tips to protect your commercial equipment in winter and develop a prevention and maintenance program to inspect and repair all systems subject to freeze damage. Establish guidelines for weather watch and implement an emergency response plan to minimize downtime and production losses.