Winter months can present you and your business with many different types of liability issues. It can be overwhelming to figure out how to best ensure that every part of your property stays safe for employees and clients alike. Thinking about the specific winter conditions that you have to deal with can help you ensure your building stays safe.
Keep Floors Dry
With rain and snow, customers and employees can easily track in water inside your business, leading to potential safety hazards and damaged flooring. Make sure that your building maintenance crew creates and implements a specific plan to ensure that floors stay dry so that no one can slip.
It may be a good idea to invest in certain types of mats at the entrance of the building so that some of the water is initially absorbed before people continue to other parts of the building. And of course, make sure you put up “wet floor” warnings in the meantime.
Maintain Pavement
Winter conditions can have a major effect on your pavement. Without consistent pavement maintenance, you could start to have big problems. For example, cracks in asphalt pavement can quickly become bigger and open up to become potholes.
When potholes develop in the pavement, they only get worse unless quickly treated and filled. These potholes can pose pertinent liability issues as well. If people aren’t paying close enough attention they may hit the potholes with their car and incur damage. Or worse, there is a chance that someone walking could trip on the pothole and suffer a painful fall.
Maintaining your pavement can help prevent these types of injuries.
Salt Outdoor Stairs
One of the most common types of winter accidents is slipping on ice. As you think about preventing liability issues that could pop up during winter months, you should pay particular attention to your outdoor staircases.
Especially if these staircases are commonly used by employees and clients, make sure that a building maintenance crew member salts the stairs everyday so that the ice melts and doesn’t pose a risk to your team. You may also want to consider how safe these stairs are at different times of day. For example, think about the specific situation at night. Are the stairs well-lit? Is there a railing?
Figuring out how to keep your building and grounds safe for your employees and clients during the winter can sometimes be difficult. But thinking about specific areas of the building that could pose potential safety risks will help you preemptively build a plan to counteract those. Do further research to make sure that you are addressing the safety concerns that are specific to your company.
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