It is by no accident either that the second of the HSE’s ebulletins of the year (9th Jan 2025) includes “Guidance on working in cold and wintry weather” - Weekly Digest: 9 January 2025.
With more adverse weather seeming to be more common, how are you looking to accommodate it, as it affects your organisation, if not now, in the future. Being prepared and ready for such events not only keeps people safe and healthy, but it is also more likely to keep productive time to an optimum.
Some tips for considering, if you haven’t already of course:
- Regularly monitor weather forecasts local to your locations.
- Assess the type of any forecast adverse weather (wind, snow, ice, rain, etc.), how it might affect your work activities and what controls you have in place.
- In some conditions, postponing outdoor work may be inevitable, can you alter work patterns to perform other tasks, possibly indoors)? Is it reasonable and what are the implications of asking people to travel in adverse weather conditions?
- Are the controls you have in place adequate for the type of weather and tasks being performed?
- Do the individuals working have appropriate training, use of equipment/PPE, what to do if conditions change further, etc.?
- Have you checked the security and integrity of any buildings likely to be affected (roofs (not rooves apparently), enclosures, trees, etc.) are there any potential hazards/possibility of damage?
Finally, if you have recently experienced any issues with bad weather, what did you learn from the process that you could consider for your future activities?