Bailing your business out of water problems.
By Guy Robertson


A pipe in your bakery’s bathroom   wall will burst in one hour. Water will race through your office and across the plant floor, soaking everything in its path. The loading bays will overflow.
Pools will form in the basement.
You must act quickly. Apart from the immediate sanitation problem, you’re faced with hazards from damp electrical outlets and wiring. Your machinery could malfunction if water seeps into your computer hardware, it might break down permanently. You could lose valuable operating data. Meanwhile, your paper records become soggy and illegible.
It doesn’t take long for water to knock out a plenty says Jay Dargatz, President of Canstar Restorations in Port Coquitlam,
B.C. People are amazed at the amount of assets that they can lose during a flood.
Like any other food producer, a bakery is vulnerable because it can lose the product that’s on the lines or ready to ship. The cost of those losses can be higher Dargatz specializes in the restoration of water-damaged sites. He notes that while burst pipes can cause serious trouble in minutes, many bad leaks are slow to develop.
Title see lots of dramatic situations,” he says. Tibia pipes get a lot of attention when they break. But a small, slow leak can cause just as much moisture damage over time. A tiny rupture in a pipe can spray hundreds of gallons into a wall cavity and drench the wiring. Before anyone notices it, that rupture can contribute to structural problems. And we have to tear out most of the wall to discover the leakage Wall and ceiling cavities can hide large amounts of stray moisture. Eventually colonies of micro-organisms and insects develop, and your bakery could experience a nasty odour.
Gotten it’s the bad odour that inspires people to take action says Dargatz. Plant   managers don’t worry about something they can’t see, until they smell it. Then we’re called in to solve the problem.
Unfortunately, it can be a lot worse than anyone imagined.”
Bakers have other sources of flooding to consider. While faulty plumbing accounts for many floods, heavy rainfall is also a risk when it contributes to roof leaks.
Insurance adjusters see water damage after somebody leaves a window open during a rainstorm, and enough water pours in to cause a substantial flood. Or the wind pops open an improperly fastened window with the same result. A small oversight can lead to an expensive clean-up.
Another source of water is the sprinkler system, an essential component of your plant’s fire control technology. Sprinklers save lives, but in putting out a blaze they can also drench assets that are not necessarily threatened by the flames. Sometimes a sprinkler head malfunctions, spraying water needlessly into offices and production areas.
Sprinklers are mechanically says Dargatz. Hershey can work well and provide good protection for years. But if they release water owing to worn out parts rather than a fire, plant managers might wonder if their sprinklers were worth the cost. Moisture control vendors are called in to repair sprinkler-related damage several times a month. It’s by no means rare In some communities, river flooding is not only a risk to bakeries, but also life threatening. Large rivers flow through Winnipeg and Vancouver, and the spring run-off puts emergency responders on high alert. Floodplain maps demonstrate that many bakeries could be flooded at some point in future, and that they could remain submerged for several days.
“If you construct your plant on a flood- plain, you might pay less for the land” says Dargatz. |”Eventually, however, you might have to deal with a river that over- flows its balks and puts your plant under water. That’s a fact of life, and there’s not much you can do about it aside from finding another site. Plants on river banks take their chances.”
While you can’t eradicate the risk of water damage in your bakery, at least you can lower the chances. Start with a moisture-sensitive preventative maintenance program. If you see discoloured stains on ceiling tiles or wails, investigate further.
You might uncover a slow leak that you can repair promptly and spare yourself costly reconstruction. Wall stains are often the first obvious sign of a leak. Any damp odour is also a clue. You’re already familiar with the smell of mildew’, odour build- up owing to moisture in wall cavities can be equally pungent.
Don’t hesitate to call for professional assistance in identifying and remedying moisture problems. Bakeries have received moisture warnings from pest control Offi- cers, plumbers, carpenters, and engineers.
Sanitation crews frequently discover leaks and water damage before anyone else.
Still, common sense is important there’s an important role for common sense. Some bakeries assign a maintenance worker to inspect roofs after every rain- storm or snowfall. “Pooling” on a flat roof indicates inadequate drainage. The extra weight could cause cracks through which water will flow. The older the roof, the greater the chances of cracking.
Regular and frequent inspections of sprinkler heads, washrooms, and drains are also wise.
“If you make your employees aware of the risk, they’ll be more likely to spot the problem and report it” says Dargatz. “Let them know that no wall stain is too small to be reported. And ask them to tell the plant manager about any pool of water that appears suddenly in an unusual place, such as a basement storage area that has been dry for years. You’ll find that
Occupational Health and Safety
Committees can be very helpful in getting the word out. They want to avoid Slip-and- fall injuries, which are commonly caused by moisture For larger floods, you can establish a strategic alliance with a moisture control vendor in your area. This alliance involves making arrangements for a fast response to your call for moisture control. lf a strategic alliance is effectively organized and updated, the vendor will arrive quickly at your bakery with the right equipment to prevent further damage.
“We’d like to know the layout of the (ant before we arrive says Dargatz.
plant “we’d also need an idea of the bakery machinery that might be damaged – conveyors, packaging modules, and ovens.
Where are they, and how many are on site? The more we know about a plant, the faster we’ll be able to get that plant back in business You can’t eradicate the risk of water damage in your bakery, but you can take steps to mitigate it.

Guy Robertson is a disaster planning consultant

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