Adverse weather and employers' Health & Safety duties
Slips on snow and ice directly cause thousands of injuries
annually, many requiring hospital treatment or leading to long term
sickness; in many cases discussion about liability will arise.
Where snow is light and the conditions pass quickly, there is
often little time to respond. However, where the hazardous
conditions remain, employers have legal duties to ensure the
workplace remains safe. These duties are to ensure they have done
all that is reasonably practicable to avoid the danger and nothing
else could have reasonably been done to prevent an accident or
injury.
So what is reasonably practicable?
With foresight and time for planning, an employer should have a
business continuity plan with a policy and procedure setting out
their arrangements for dealing with the clearance of snow and ice.
They should appoint a responsible person and ensure adequate
resources are available including equipment and materials. When the
snow arrives the conditions should be assessed and appropriate
action then taken.
If you have not been able to prepare, now that we have
significant snow and ice throughout the UK, you should act to
ensure the workplace remains safe.
What should I do?
- Complete an initial assessment of the conditions as they are on
your site, monitor weather forecasts and review the conditions and
your assessment daily whilst the snow and ice remain.
- Prioritise your actions, clear snow and ice from access routes
and grit them where possible.
- Close access routes that you can not clear or do not need to
use. Do not divert pedestrians onto the highway.
- Check escape routes from the premises are available for use and
are not obstructed or blocked by snow and ice.
- Where possible clear and grit car parks and vehicle movement
areas including pedestrian access routes.
- Give priority to any slopes or bends, also ensuring that
entrances onto the public highway are cleared or gritted to reduce
high speed vehicle accidents.
- Check that cars are parked safely and do not obstruct footpaths
and pedestrian entrances.
- Ensure entrance areas remain dry, use extra mats to stop water
spreading into the building and arrange regular housekeeping
inspections.
Remember, if you have contractors working on your site the risk
in their workplace may increase substantially in severe weather. As
their client you should ensure that they have adequate precautions
in place to provide for their own safety and that of others. Their
risk assessments and methods statements must also have been
reviewed by a competent person.
You should record the actions that you have taken on a daily
basis; a simple diary entry will act as a suitable record.
What about company drivers?
Driving in the current conditions will need careful
consideration to ensure employee and public safety and avoid
breakdowns or accidents. The best advice is not to drive unless the
journey is absolutely necessary; this decision should be based on
your own risk assessment. However, you must take note of warnings
from the Met Office, the Highways Agency and other statutory bodies
such as local or County Councils. Remember, conditions will change
daily and therefore your arrangements will need to be reviewed on a
similar basis.
What reasonable actions can I take now?
- In severe conditions you should decide if employees really need
to be in the workplace; can you make alternative arrangements or
allow them to work from home?
- For company drivers you need to ensure both vehicle and driver
safety, considering what would happen in a breakdown or if they
were stranded in a remote area.
- Route planning to ensure the journey can be made safely is
important. You should remember that in planning journeys usual
routes may be unsuitable in adverse weather.
- Remember that drivers in most
cases are lone workers and you should have assessed the risk to
them with priority to ensure that they arrive at their destination
safely or can summon assistance where required.
- Make sure company vehicles are prepared for their journey, they
are cleared of snow, ice is removed from the windows, screen wash
is topped up and not frozen and that tyres and brakes are in good
condition.
- Ensure drivers carry additional clothing to keep warm should
breakdown occur including high visibility jackets or vests.
- Make sure drivers are aware of your breakdown arrangements and
have emergency contact details should accident or incident
occur.
What if my employees work outside or the workplace is
cold?
Where persons are employed outside in inclement conditions they
must be provided with adequate protective clothing to ensure that
they remain warm and safe; this might include hats and gloves,
safety boots and high visibility padded jackets. The work
environment and conditions should form part of your risk
assessment; in extreme weather conditions this should be reviewed
and where appropriate additional arrangements and personal
protection put in place.
The risk in some work activities also increases significantly in
cold weather, for example the impact of vibration on the
body and the risk of falling from height.
In such circumstances what is reasonably practicable and
what action should I take?
- Additional clothing may be required, or existing protective
clothing may need replacement to ensure it remains effective in
keeping people warm.
- You should ensure that a suitable place is provided for
employees to dry their work clothing when not in use.
- Additional breaks may be required along with the provision of
hot drinks.
- Rest areas may need additional temporary heating.
- Supervisory checks should be increased to ensure employees
remain fit and well and are not suffering from the effects of the
weather.
- Some more hazardous activities may need to be deferred or
additional protective measures put in place.
What about workplace temperatures?
One of the most common complaints in adverse weather is that the
workplace is cold and the heating is inadequate. Thermal comfort is
a difficult area; some people may feel the cold more than others
and no two workplaces will be the same.
The temperature in the workplace should normally be at least
16°C unless much of the work involves physical effort, in which
case the temperature may be lower. In all cases the nature of the
workplace should be taken into account and it can be reasonably
acceptable for the workplace to not be at this temperature when
people first arrive at work. In adverse weather where a reasonably
comfortable temperature cannot be achieved in a workplace
additional arrangements may be required to ensure employee comfort
allowing them to work safely. Additional arrangements may
include:
- Providing temporary heating
- The provision of additional clothing, such as a fleece or
jacket for a warehouse operative
- Additional breaks in a warm rest area
- The provision of hot drinks.
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further information or advice specific to your business.
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