The winter season can be tough on businesses – from offices to construction worksites. The colder weather brings a whole new set of risks. Your workplace needs to be warm, safe and prepared for the months ahead. A risk assessment will help you foresee any major and minor risks. You can develop a contingency plan to manage these risks and hopefully mitigate them.
Here are a few ways you can prepare your business for winter.
Sign up for weather alerts
Weather alerts are essential in the winter. You need to be aware of torrential rain, heavy snowfall and black ice. You can warn your team about these weather conditions when you get a weather alert. You can advise them to drive carefully, wear appropriate footwear, and be wary of any ice surrounding the workplace. If you work outside, provide Milwaukee heated jackets for your employees to keep them warm.
Review heating system
You should have your boiler serviced before the cold weather sets in. Plumbers tend to get very busy with emergency calls in the winter season. You should have your heating system serviced ahead of time to avoid any larger issues down the line. Keep your office heating at a steady low temperature throughout the Christmas break. Pipes can freeze and burst if you turn the heating completely off for weeks on end.
Consider flexible working hours
In the winter, we arrive and leave work in the dark. There is hardly any chance to go outside in the sunlight. Give your team flexible working hours in the darker months so they can work from home if they want to. A long commute can be gruelling at the best of times – never mind in the snow and rain. Keep your employees and safe and allow them to work from home on snow days.
Prevents slips and falls
Wet weather means slippery floors in the office. You need to keep your workplace safe and display hazard signs near the doorway. You could also arrange for snow and ice removal when the weather is particularly bad. Grit can help to melt the ice around your worksite and minimise the chance of slips or trips.
Contingency plans
You need to think worst-case scenario. If the weather causes the power lines to fail, how will you handle it? You might lose data on your system and struggle to get it back online. Form a contingency plan to handle the worst-case scenarios. You can refer back to the plan if these scenarios ever happen. It’s much harder to think of a plan in the midst of an emergency. You just need to follow your prepared instructions and get your business back on track. Simple.
Prepare your business for winter now before the icy weather sets in.