4 WAYS TO PREPARE YOUR FACILITY FOR QUICKER SNOW AND ICE REMOVAL THIS WINTER

The benefits of securing your facility's snow and ice removal well before winter are many. You'll have coordinated, swift snow and ice removal when you need it to keep your business flowing. With the many serious concerns during winter including HVAC system issues, delayed deliveries, and snowbound employees having your snow removal plans in place helps you feel a measure of control over the unpredictable.

Your insurance company will be pleased that you have deicing plans in place, which is a great starting point to negotiate better rates. There may be local or municipal codes you must follow regarding snow and ice removal. When you hire a dedicated, professional snow removal team, they help you comply with the rules.

Summer is a good time to repair parking lots, curbs, dock pads, sidewalks, and other areas where people and vehicles move. Sidewalks and large paved areas need to be slightly sloped in the right directions to keep storm runoff from flooding, pooling, or flowing over busy areas. When you have professional drainage installed on your property, you lower the risk of dangerous icy patches forming in winter.

Check the following areas for potential winter trouble. Observe your facility's property on a rainy day in order to understand your property's drainage issues.

Develop a plan with your landscaping crew to remedy any drainage issues on your property when the weather is warm. Install retaining walls, drains and other features to keep ice buildup from causing unnecessary injuries, accidents and collisions.

Hold several monthly meetings during the summer with department heads and other interested individuals in your business or organization. The team should all be sent digital and paper blueprints, maps, or plats of your location. Any exterior utility and power shutoffs should be noted on the images to make certain these areas are easy to reach during storms and blizzards.

Assess your priorities with your team to determine which areas of your property should be tackled first, second, and so on. For example, if you're a small hospital, you need your emergency room entry and exit cleared of ice and snow immediately. The doctors' parking lot can be tackled third after patient, visitor and staff walkways are salted and cleared of icy spots.

Your business has its own priorities whether you're a factory or a shopping center. Once your team has agreed on the snow removal plan, record the plan and make sure all staff know and understand which areas will be cleared first. Employees must also understand where they're allowed to park during snow removal. Their cooperation helps avoid problems for the snow removal team trying to access all of your property.

Be up front with your snow removal team about how you want your property to be deiced and cleared of snow. Understand in advance the tolerances you need to provide for the plows and other machines. Give the crew a map of your property to help them understand where they need to focus attention.

Remember, even if you declare certain areas of your facility "off-limits" or "temporarily closed", you can be held liable for not maintaining a safe entry or parking area. If the walkway or entry is a common one in use by the public or visitors, some people will attempt to use that access point despite how badly iced over it is. Protect yourself from personal injury lawsuits by having a plan to deice all of your property's access points.

Kling's Lawn & Landscape is your source for expert facility landscaping and snow removal. Contact us today to get your facility all set for the snowy season.