Winter is Coming: 4 Ways to Keep Your Guests Safer this Winter
We know preparation is key to managing the hazards of ice and snow. So, here’s four simple steps, compiled by UK manufacturer Glasdon, which aim to help provide you with peace of mind and assistance during the colder months.
Step One - Create: Winter Safety Checklist.
Creating a checklist is an important element of preparing the business for harsh winter weather. A list makes it easier to manage the several concurrent tasks which can be needed to ensure any exposed external areas, entrances, stairs are effectively treated when the temperatures drop.
According to the Health and Safety Executive, slips, trips, or falls account for 29% of non-fatal workplace injuries*. With the combined darker, wetter, and colder weather inbound during winter, the harsher conditions present additional risk factors and increase the possibility of accidents among staff and guests around the premises.
So, what should a checklist include?
Designate Roles and Responsibilities
A fundamental part of a winter risk management plan is to ensure that all staff members know their roles and responsibilities. Delegating responsibilities to appropriately trained staff members will eliminate the possibility of missed tasks and promote the smooth running of operations. But there are things to consider when assigning roles and responsibilities.
· Are staff appropriately trained to fulfil the task at hand?
· Are staff aware of their roles and responsibilities?
· Does the availability and working hours of staff members coincide with the tasks required?
· When was the last winter briefing held? Does your company require an updated one?
· Is communication within the company effective?
Check Weather Forecasts
The best way to prepare for an influx of snow and ice is to plan and monitor temperatures. Keeping up to date with weather reports and actioning de-icing plans and procedures in due time will help lessen the likelihood of accidents.
Subscribing to The Met Office Weather Warnings or downloading a handy weather app are perhaps the easiest ways to monitor impending weather conditions, but the use of a weather station can also be ideal.
Identify High-Risk Areas
As set out in the code of practice for Regulation 12 of The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 - Condition of floors and traffic routes, ‘so far as is reasonably practicable, every floor in a workplace and the surface of every traffic route in a workplace shall be kept free from obstructions and from any article or substance which may cause a person to slip, trip or fall.’*As snow and ice present a high risk of accidents, identifying risk areas and actioning plausible plans to rectify such are important elements in keeping staff, and guests safe. Walkways, pavements, car parks, and entranceways are key areas where high staff and guest traffic will occur. However, depending on your business, there may be other areas to consider. After identifying risk areas, prepare an action plan, including de-icing, gritting or snow shovelling, to prevent and lower the possibilities of accidents.
Verify Equipment Needs and Maintenance
Ensuring you have the correct and properly maintained equipment is imperative to fulfil an action plan after identifying risk areas. Not only will access to the correct equipment make achieving the task swifter and efficient, but it will also reduce the risk for the staff member completing the task.
Snow shovels, ice grips, salt spreaders, and grit can all help, and their design makes them ideal for efficient and safe task completion. Poorly maintained equipment can present many problems. Not only will it make it harder to achieve the tasks at hand, but it may also increase staff risk levels as the machinery may be faulty and dangerous.
Arranging a servicing package for a grit spreader is a great way to ensure your equipment remains reliable and won’t let you down when you need it the most.
Step Two - Choose: Rock Salt or Ice Melt?
There are multiple differences between ice melt and rock salt, and depending on a business’ de-icing requirements, one may have a better impact than the other.
Rock Salt
Primarily composed of Halite, rock salt penetrates ice and snow and dissolves to create a brine solution. As the solution’s freezing point is lower than water, it begins to melt the ice.
Ice Melt
Although primarily composed of magnesium chloride, sodium chloride, calcium chloride and potassium chloride, ice melt can have slightly different compositions depending on the manufacturer. Glasdon Icemelt™, for example, contains magnesium chloride, sodium chloride and limestone. This combination creates a process of freezing point depression, which, like rock salt, dissolves.
However, with a lower freezing point than rock salt, the brine produced by Icemelt provides a longer-lasting solution to match more severe weather conditions.
Both rock salt and Icemelt should be stored in a grit bin to protect the produce from the elements and make it easy to find. To help choose between rock salt and ice melt, read our guide: Ice Melt or Rock Salt? What’s the Difference?
Step Three - Check: Equipment Needs.
As detailed in the checklist, a vital component of winter planning is to ensure the correct equipment is available to achieve winter preparedness. After identifying risk areas, it may become apparent that de-icing or clearing snow in each zone would be too big or too dangerous a task for the staff available. Sourcing adequate equipment can help.
Snow shovels
A snow shovel can make the task of clearing small amounts of snow manageable and more comfortable than a conventional spade. A lightweight alternative, snow shovels are versatile and specifically designed for operation in colder, harsher weather
The surface area in need of clearing largely determines the size of the snow shovel required. For smaller areas, the Glasdon Snospade™ Snow Shovel or Digga™ Snow Shovel are ideal and offer heavy-duty solutions for clearing snow, with minimal requirement for storage facilities.
For larger spaces, the Snowscoop™ Snow Shovel is suitable and provides an easy and quick solution to removing snow from footpaths and car parks, but for high volumes of snow around large workplaces and roads, the Snowdozer™ Snow Plough Attachment is the perfect alternative. Easily attachable to forklift trucks, the Snowdozer is a durable polyethylene blade with twist locks for ease of operation.
Salt spreaders
Salt spreaders are handy manual tools which can help to prevent ice build-up and de-ice premises quickly and safely. With a spreading width of 3-7 metres, the grit spreaders are ideal for larger areas and ensure prompt and effective grit disbursement. With balanced weight distribution, the units are easily operated and lessen the risk to staff from the constant bending of manually dispersing grit onto roads or the arm strength required to shovel snow.
Available as a manual or a towable unit with varying capacities, the spreaders are built with durability in mind and can easily tackle icy and snowy surfaces.
To learn more about salt grit spreaders, read our guides: The Glasdon Guide to Towable Salt Spreaders and The Glasdon Guide to Manual Salt Spreaders.
Grit and Grit Salt Bins
Securing an adequate supply of rock salt or icemelt can make a considerable difference when considering safety at work. Best stored in grit bins, the storage facilities will ensure the grit is untouched by the elements while also providing an opening that allows for the use of both hands while filling or emptying the bin.
Available with varying capacities, ranging from 90ltrs to 800ltrs, the bins offer secure protection of grit salt and withstand hardened weather and come with the option of lockable lids to protect from theft. Larger containers like the Orbistor™ Grit Bin have forklift slots for easy transportation between locations.
Ice Grips
An often-underrated element of winter preparedness, Ice Grips™ provide safety and security while walking over ice surfaces. With toughened steel spikes and carbide steel spiral wires, the ice grips suit snow and ice terrain, are easily transportable and require little maintenance or storage. With temperatures plummeting and snow on the way, the ice grips can ensure safe practices during the fulfilment of winter preparation tasks and while moving around the premises afterwards.
Step Four - Conserve: Equipment, Road and Pathway Maintenance.
The checklist is complete, business is booming, and staff and visitors can safely move around with a low risk of accidents, but what about the future? Maintaining equipment and facilities is not only cost-effective, as it reduces the requirement to re-buy or fix faulty units, but it also ensures that the operation can continue uninterrupted if snowy weather hits as reliability and performance of equipment are essential.
Service packages ensure that all units are thoroughly and rigorously checked and clean and, should anything require fixing, replacement parts will be fitted and tested to guarantee a robust and long-lasting product. Maintenance tips are also a handy tool to follow, detailing storage recommendations, how often to oil, guides to refill and empty and information about where to acquire spares or replacement parts.
Top Tips
· Don’t wait for a drop in weather or snow to fall before taking action.
· Subscribe to the Met Office Weather Warnings website or download a weather app to track weather conditions.
· Rock Salt doesn’t work instantly and requires time to dissolve. Grit in the early evening, before the frost settles, or early in the morning with adequate time before staff and visitors arrive.
· Prioritise any busy footpaths, walkways, car parks, and roads that identify as high risk.
· Prioritise outdoor footbridges and overpasses on-site as they are likely to freeze first.
· Apply an adequate amount of grit to slopes, steps, and uneven routes as these carry a higher risk factor than level and flat surfaces when icy.
· Divert pedestrians and traffic until roads and pathways are safe and grit has had long enough to dissolve ice.
· For environmental benefits, switch to Icemelt.
