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15 Reasons Why Water Trumps Electricity

Most conscientious owners and property managers try to do an exhaustive electrical equipment failure risk assessment for their facility to make sure they have everything under control. But when was the last time that risk assessment was performed? Has anything changed over the years? Are there any new risks that didn’t exist before? Are there any risks that were initially overlooked?

When performing a risk assessment, consider how other non-electrical building systems might impact your electrical infrastructure. What if the plumbing systems fails? What if the HVAC systems malfunction? What about weather-related sources of failure? Are alarm systems or notification systems in place in the event water is discharged near electrical equipment? What if the problem occurs on the weekend when the facility is unoccupied? How much worse will the initial damage be if problems go undetected for several days? It only takes one risk oversight to cause a costly, catastrophic event that can debilitate your business operation.

This case study at an office building reveals how an overlooked risk led to a significant financial loss and business interruption. Would your electrical equipment risk-assessment process be thorough enough to have predicted and planned for an unexpected event like this? If not, maybe it’s time to gather the knowledgeable facilities personnel and conduct a new “what-if” risk assessment to identify all possible sources of electrical equipment failure. Once identified, corrective or preventive measures can be implemented now to avoid or reduce the severity of a disaster like this one.

Click here for additional insights in evaluating risks or reviewing the costs of a few actual loss examples.


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