Winter Safety Tips for Employees

Winter can be stressful on your body, and if you own a business, you know how dangerous this time of year can be. From slip and falls to life threatening conditions, it’s important to understand these winter safety tips for employees before it’s too late. As your trusted advisors in any and all things related to insurance, we want to help your team stay safe to keep your number of claims down, and your insurance premiums at an affordable low price.

Be cautious about slip and falls.

Slip and fall accidents can happen at anytime of year, but are the most common accident in the winter as ice and snow create hazardous conditions for anyone to walk on. This exposes your business to a huge risk, because if one or more of your employees trip and fall due to unsafe conditions, they could take legal action.

Any parking lots, sidewalks, or other walkways on your commercial property needs to be cleared before your business opens up for operation. Additionally, parking lots and outdoor break areas that are on your property should also be cleared after winter weather hits. It’s also important to be cautious about slip and falls inside your business too, because employees can track in snow, ice, and dirt which can cause a slippery situation. Be sure to put down floor mats at all entrance ways, and remind everyone to wipe their shoes on it before walking around the office to prevent accidents inside the workspace.

Take Heed of Frostbite and Hypothermia.

Prolonged exposure to the cold can have dangerous consequences. Therefore, it’s important to understand these winter safety tips for employees. Frostbite can occur on skin and can cause amputation to extremities such as toes and fingers. Hypothermia, on the other hand, causes the body’s internal temperature to drop below 95 degrees and is life threatening. If you suspect one of your employees has frostbite or hypothermia, get them into a warm area, and call for emergency services immediately as these medical conditions are serious.

Additionally, you should also hold a meeting with your staff about the symptoms of frostbite which includes skin that is very cold, hard, pale, blistered, or swollen, and hypothermia which induces shivering, lack of coordination, drowsiness, confusion, slurred speech, and exhaustion.

Make sure your employees are wearing the proper clothing.

Having your staff wear the proper clothing is incredibly important if you own a business that requires your staff to be exposed long term to extreme temperatures. Make it a requirement that boots, gloves, hats, coats, etc. need to be worn to prevent serious health conditions.

Have a plan of action.

Even if you understand these winter safety tips for employees, your staff may not, and it’s important to reinforce a plan of action every month. This way your employees will know what to do if something happens and can comfortably report hazardous conditions to you. Having a plan in place enhances the safety of your staff and reduces the cost of expenses associated with legal or workers compensation claims.

Our insurance agency believes that every business should implement these winter safety tips for employees into their commercial space before it’s too late. Of course, employee danger isn’t the only thing business owners need to worry about when temperatures drop below freezing. In fact, burst pipes can cause serious problems as well. Click the button below to learn more about how you can prevent them at your business.