As powercuts cripple countries, how can organisations reduce risk?

Widespread power outages across Spain and Portugal have reminded us all how quickly a national-scale incident can disrupt not only essential services but also the day-to-day operations of countless organisations.

These events are a timely prompt for businesses to ask themselves: Are we prepared for disruption on this scale? At Barnett Waddingham, we support organisations in developing proactive, practical responses to complex risks. Here’s what you can do now to build greater resilience.

Review and refine your business continuity plans

Power outages may not be at the top of your risk register – but using national and local risk registers as a guide to these types of incidents that could affect your organisation or region enables you to assess how those scenarios could impact your ability to operate.

Key questions to ask:

• Do you rely on digital systems or online payments – and if so, do you have manual workarounds?
• Can your staff quickly switch to alternative processes?
• Is your recovery plan specific enough to guide people under pressure?

Plans should cover more than just IT resilience. Think holistically about how your organisation would continue delivering essential services, how decisions would be made, and how staff and stakeholders would be supported.

Think beyond the office walls

In major incidents, organisations don’t operate in a vacuum. Your role within the community may become more important than ever.

"While you will want to focus on your organisation and the safety of your people, could you be called upon to assist more widely? This might be in terms of shelter, a communications hub, distribution centre for food or other essential items."

Consider:

• Could your building offer temporary shelter, serve as a communications hub, or help distribute essentials?
• Are you connected with local resilience or emergency response groups? If not, now is the time to engage.

Such networks provide critical intelligence during incidents and can accelerate your response and recovery. They also build goodwill and demonstrate leadership in challenging times.

Encourage your employees to make personal emergency plans too. In Australia, where natural disasters regularly affect infrastructure, individuals are encouraged to create and maintain personal emergency kits. These typically include:

• Three days’ worth of water and non-perishable food.
• Essential medications and documents.
• First aid kit, torch, radio and batteries.
• Protective gear, clothing and cash.

Equipping your people with this knowledge – and storing essential supplies onsite – could be crucial if they need to remain at work or are unable to travel.

Test, test, and test again

Even the best continuity plan is only as good as its last test. Regular exercises are essential to:

• Expose hidden weaknesses.
• Familiarise teams with roles and responsibilities.
• Improve decision-making under pressure.

Scenarios involving power outages are especially valuable as they often highlight interdependencies we take for granted – from IT infrastructure to critical suppliers. Communication strategies should be reviewed to account for situations where usual channels are unavailable.

Don’t forget to consider your wider ecosystem. You might escape direct disruption, but if key suppliers or partners are affected, the ripple effect could be just as damaging. Building resilience into your supply chain is as important as fortifying your own systems.

Final thoughts

Large-scale incidents like national powercuts are disruptive, but they also present a valuable opportunity: to test, learn and improve.

Start by revisiting your plans, reassessing your exposure, and reconnecting with your community. Then, act on what you learn. At Barnett Waddingham, we support organisations in turning theory into practice – building robust, adaptable strategies to meet the challenges ahead.

Explore our Business Continuity Scenario Playbook – designed to help in-house resilience and crisis teams run meaningful exercises and drive continuous improvement.