10 Extreme Weather Safety Tips for Plumbers

Prepare for extreme weather

• Practice cold-weather safety

• Know extreme weather warning signs

When the temperature drops, that's when customers are more likely to face frozen water lines and broken pipes, prompting them to call your plumbing company for emergency service.

While extreme cold weather contributes to plumbing problems, it also presents dangerous conditions for plumbers who must work in wet and unheated areas. Here are some weather-related tips to ensure your technicians remain safe:

Winter weather safety tips:

• Dress properly with insulated coats, hats, boots, gloves (and store dry backups in the truck).

• Stay hydrated.

• Know the signs of cold stress.

• Take extra precautions to ensure ladders remain secure on wet or icy ground.

• Perform winter plumbing-van maintenance to minimize break-downs.

• Follow winter driving safety, especially on ice and in snow.

Summer weather safety tips:

• Drink plenty of fluids to avoid dehydration.

• Take appropriate breaks to prevent heat stroke. 

• Monitor interior truck temperatures. 

• Dress for the heat, but still wear protective equipment.

Plan in advance

• Possess the proper tools and skills

• Communicate complete job information

Approach each job proactively, so techs adequately prepare for plumbing repairs. Techs should possess the right tools, knowledge, and skills for the job to ensure safety and efficient customer service.

While some plumbing companies implemented virtual consultations during the COVID pandemic to minimize public contact, the added communication with customers gives techs valuable knowledge to help them arrive prepared. Oftentimes, the plumber will know how to fix plumbing problems even before they get to the job. 

In ServiceTitan’s cloud-based software solution for the trades, that information is readily available on the mobile app, keeping it at the technician’s fingertips, improving safety and customer service in the process.

Preparing as much as possible beforehand—including understanding local building codes, licensing, and other local regulations—helps plumbers complete a job safely and more efficiently.

Stock the right tools

• Organize tools and equipment

• Maintain orderly vehicles

A tech needs the best plumbing tools for the job and a clean, well-organized van to perform efficient work.

Georg Efird of Blue Planet Plumbing understands the importance of keeping employees accountable for stocking and organizing tools, and maintaining vehicles.

“We hold our technicians 100% accountable for the organization and maintenance of the vehicle," Efird says. The company grades technicians on everything, from a fully stocked first-aid kit down to the van's tire treads.

A well-stocked van enables a tech to safely tackle the plumbing job with the right tool. It also eliminates the wasted time and fuel—and added risk of an accident—of driving back to the shop.

Some companies, such as Nice Heating & Air, award points to techs for clean and well-stocked trucks, which the techs exchange for rewards of their choice. Companies can also award bonus compensation for the cleanest vehicle or most improved work van. 

Wear proper PPE

• Protect from environmental hazards

• Practice sanitary procedures

Plumber safety begins with proper safety gear. The right clothing, eyewear, ear plugs, respirators, boots, hats, work gloves, and other equipment ensures safety on the jobsite.

Among other health hazards, professional plumbers can encounter:

• Mold from leaking water supplies.

• Dust from cutting water pipes.

• Asbestos in old materials.

• Burns from soldering or hot water heaters. 

• Toxic drain-cleaning chemicals used by homeowners attempting to clear a clog.

• Bacteria and viruses from raw sewage due to defective sump pumps or food debris buildup inside garbage disposals.

Experts recommend following sanitary practices, such as washing hands often and avoiding touching your eyes. Employees who wash their own work uniforms should wash them separately from other household laundry.

Prepare for health concerns

• Set and follow company guidelines

• Keep customers informed

When plumbers enter homes, they touch sink faucets, toilets, and other items in the home. The pandemic brought a flood of health concerns to the forefront and highlighted the importance of following health and safety standards.

In the COVID era, businesses should confirm with the customer and the technician about any possible exposure, and take proper precautions if needed. PPE such as face masks can help protect both techs and customers. 

Out of This World Plumbing Company in Ottawa, Ontario, informs customers of its additional sanitizing practices by devoting an entire page to the topic on its website. Before and after a job, technicians clean and sanitize tools, equipment, parts, and the company vehicle. The company equips techs with hand sanitizer, latex gloves, masks, and shoe covers. 

Another company, Tom Drexler Plumbing, Air & Electric, built portable hand-washing stations for their techs to provide more sanitary solutions. Following company procedures and taking additional cautionary steps can ensure technicians, and their customers, stay fully protected.

Implement safety precautions

• Avoid occupational injuries

• Use proper equipment

Besides watching out for environmental hazards, plumbers should practice key plumbing safety procedures while working.

Plumbers often climb ladders and scaffolding, use loud equipment, move repetitively, and work in crawl spaces, attics, or cabinets under the kitchen sink while completing plumbing projects.

To avoid ergonomic injuries, take breaks from awkward positions and practice safe lifting techniques. The federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration recommends plumbers rotate tasks and take a quick break every 30 minutes.

Other safety precautions include keeping tools in working order, using power tools with GFCI to avoid electrical shock, and employing air monitors in oxygen-deficient areas. 

Wearing ear plugs or ear muffs helps dampen loud noises and prevents occupational hearing loss, one of the most common work-related illnesses in the nation, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

In addition, plumbing apps with built-in calculations help plumbers quickly figure out safe answers to urgent problems they may face on the job, such as determining water pressure or calculating water flow rate when replacing a frozen pipe that burst.

Dispatch the right tech

• Match tech skills to jobs

• Increase efficiency with cloud-based plumbing software

Use ServiceTitan cloud-based dispatch software to match the right tech to the job. Dispatchers can immediately see the skills required for a job and identify the right plumber for the task. With ServiceTitan’s new product, Smart Dispatch, on the horizon for 2022, companies can choose to automate this process as much or as little as they prefer.

Drag-and-drop scheduling software allows your company to assign jobs based on tech skills, so you can match highly experienced techs to the most profitable jobs and know they’re competent to handle any safety risks. 

Detailed scheduling oversight enables increased efficiency and also enables dispatchers to efficiently schedule qualified techs to jobs based on location, minimizing unnecessary drive time on hazardous roads.

In addition, techs can ensure their customers minimize winter weather damage to their home's plumbing system by explaining winter plumbing tips, such as removing garden hoses and covering spigots and outdoor faucets, and using pipe insulation to protect exposed pipes near exterior walls from cold air. This may be a good time to address plumbing maintenance memberships to keep customers' systems in working order.

Drive with care

• Optimize plumber scheduling

• Communicate arrival times

Plumbers can possess the best tools and rigorously follow every safety protocol, but it won't make much difference if they never arrive at the job.

Daily driving becomes a mundane reality for virtually all plumbing technicians. But driving with care not only  positively reflects on your company (the van really functions as a moving billboard), but it saves lives on the road.

To stay safe on the road:

• Optimize scheduling, so techs don't rush from one job to the next.

• Avoid weather-related road closures, traffic delays, and other last-minute hiccups with plumbing dispatch software.

• Use plumbing customer experience software, so customers know exactly when techs will arrive.

Invest in safety training

• Refine skills and techniques

• Follow company safety protocol

Make workplace safety a priority by investing in plumber safety training. Consider mandatory safety training and obtain feedback from your team on plumbing safety meeting topics. That way, everyone is on the same page about current precautions and protocols, and knows safety ranks as a top priority for your company. 

Plumber techs need to stay up to date on their skills, through continued education and on-site work experience. They should also possess proper safety gear and equipment to do their job safely.

Often, a plumber discovers an environmental hazard, such as mold growth, and must alert a homeowner of the health hazard. It’s imperative they follow safety protocol when tackling those kinds of serious problems.

An investment in your employees pays off in the end for any company working in the trades, says Chad Peterman, President of Peterman Heating, Cooling & Plumbing in Indianapolis. He suggests investing as much time in recruiting and training workers as you do in marketing your business.

“It has been the continual investment in our people that has really been the driving force behind our growth,” Peterman says.

Protect your business with insurance

• Plan and protect for the unknown

• Follow best practice procedures

While you can attempt to mitigate as many hazards as possible, plumber insurance protects your company in unforeseen circumstances.

General liability insurance protects your company in case your work causes property damage or bodily injury to customers. Commercial vehicle insurance covers auto accidents while coming to or from a job and theft from work vans, while property insurance covers the office and everything stored in it.

Many states require workers' compensation insurance, which ensures your injured employees get medical care and compensation for lost wages if they are injured on the job. It also usually protects a company from lawsuits, and extends the same protection to your customers.

Measure company success

• Track and analyze KPIs

• Adjust for growth

Track the progress of your company using an integrated software platform, so you know you're headed in the right direction and can easily oversee each plumber’s habits or routines. 

ServiceTitan field reporting software lets you view and analyze key performance indicators. That will show you if a particular plumber tends to rush through jobs or if they must make multiple visits to fix one problem. There’s likely an underlying safety risk if that’s the case.

“I have real, live data right in front of me,” says Ben Davis, CEO of Express Plumbing, Heating & Air in Boise, Idaho. “It’s almost a breathing, living thing. It tells you if you’re successful or not, or if one of your technicians is successful or not—what’s his close rate, what’s his average ticket.”

Analyzing real-time data enables you to gauge your company's progress and make adjustments for optimal growth. Overworked, exhausted plumbers tend to make for unsafe situations. Keep tabs on their workloads and strategically grow your workforce as your company profit grows.