Slip Sliding Away

In life, there are a few things you can bank on: Death, taxes, and a November Loss Control newsletter article about preparing for the upcoming winter season, as it relates to walking on snow and ice.

Every year we have enough claims from slips on snow and ice to justify repeating this topic. In this article, we will provide some things to think about, which hopefully will help to prevent some of these claims. Please pass this information along to your schools.

1. Wear proper shoes for the weather. If it is icy and slick outside, please wear a pair of shoes/ boots that provide stability and traction. Put your nice work shoes in a bag and change when you are safely inside your building. One of the most helpless feelings in the world is the sensation you get, once you start slipping and losing your balance and you know that you are going down. Good shoes will help keep us from getting into that situation.

2. Don’t be in a hurry. Give yourself enough time to drive and walk where you need to be. When we get in a hurry we tend to walk faster, and take shortcuts into areas that haven’t been plowed, or shoveled and salted. Make sure to walk in areas that have been salted and shoveled.

3. Be careful, once you enter the building. Often times, people kick off the snow and ice and then track it into the entry way of the building. This means that floors are wet and slippery, even inside. If you have spare rugs and mats, it would be a good idea to put them in the entry areas, in order to prevent slipping on a wet floor.

4. If you have access to signage, or orange cones, it is a good idea to place them in hazardous areas, which allows people to pay closer attention in those areas. Please discourage your people from looking at cell phones, or paying attention to things other than these dangerous walking areas.

In regards to the amount of snowfall, last year was pretty light. We should prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Let’s stay vigilant and focused on getting from our vehicles and into our buildings as safely as possible.

For questions on this, or other safety related topics, please contact USBA Loss Control at: Jimmy Chapman- 801-878-0674; jchapman@usbawc.com Dave Summers- 801-878-0692; dsummers@usbawc.com