Winter Weather Safety in the Workplace
2016-2017 Winter Weather Forecast
After last year’s calm winter, we need a winter weather safety recap! This year, places like California and the Southeast might not see anything too dangerous. However, the North, Northeast and Southeast could potentially see a large amount of winter storms. For more details on this potentially snow-filled winter season, check out the full 2016-2016 Earth Networks Winter Weather Forecast Webinar here.
While a white Christmas would be nice, a high-activity winter season creates dangerous conditions. There’s a chance that wind, snow, ice and cold could result in wind chill, frostbite and even hypothermia in your workplace this winter. Don’t take any chances. Find your industry below to learn how you can promote winter weather safety in your workplace this year!
Find your Workplace!
Colleges & Universities
Those who work in the higher education field know that no two days are like the other. With a fluctuating number of students and faculty on-campus throughout the week, emergency management crews need to be ready to react to any type of event. While thunderstorms, flooding and hurricanes can create emergency situations during the warmer months, snow, wind chill and ice in the winter are just as dangerous.
Emergency management can prepare for winter conditions by gathering supplies like sidewalk salt, shovels and plows. Organizing clean-up activity flow is also a good idea. Emergency management teams should also have a reliable form of communication to relay important closure and temperature information around campus.
Golf Clubs
During the winter months, closed golf courses must ensure safety concerns turn away from people and towards the grounds. Protecting your fairways, greens, sand traps and water features during the winter months is imperative to a successful rest of the year.
It’s important for groundskeepers and golf course superintendents to prepare for the forecast. Insulation is a great way to protect your greens. Make sure you wait until after the ground is frozen so the plants can acclimate and harden-off. The United States Golf Association has a great resource for protecting annual bluegrass golf greens. Curled wood shavings and straw mulch systems are two other great ways to protect your golf course from harsh winter weather.
Schools
We know that student safety is a complex issue and one of the highest priorities for administrators and staff at primary and secondary schools. Seasonal weather conditions pose a plethora of threats to students, so being able to accurately forecast dangerous weather conditions is paramount. In order to increase safety throughout campus, administrators should develop a cold weather plan and define protocol for handling snow days, delayed openings and early closures.
One of the most important steps administrators can take is to have a reliable snow day predictor weather technology to prevent students, parents and staff from traveling in dangerous conditions. Communication is key, so don’t forget automated and effective communication channels to relay school closings and other important weather safety information.
Sports & Recreation
Another industry that benefits from cold weather safety tips in the workplace is the sports and recreation industry. Threatening winter conditions don’t discriminate between skill levels. All complexes face freezing temperatures, snow, and ice threats to safety and infrastructure. While professional sports leagues like the NFL offer branded winter weather apparel to prevent hypothermia and frostbite during, it’s important to have a protocol for weather that’s too cold to play in. Putting together a plan and being quick to reschedule cancelled events are great tips for sports and recreation complexes to combat the weather dangers of the season.
If you’re located in an area where temperatures are almost always at a dangerous low during the winter, an indoor facility is a great investment to keep your complex going throughout the year. Athletic Business.com has a great article on all of the considerations that go into creating indoor recreation facilities.
What does your Workplace do?
Threatening weather conditions impact more than just the workplaces listed above. Where do you work? Is weather safety a priority around your workplace? Let us know any tips that we missed in the comments below! Remember, no matter where you work or what you do, being prepared for dangerous weather conditions during the winter months is the best way to keep yourself, other employees and company assets safe.
