Winter is Coming! Is Your Facility Prepared?
Is Your Facility Ready to Tackle Winter Weather?
As a facility manager or property owner, preparing for the winter months can be tedious and time consuming. If your facility resides in an area where winter can wreak havoc on concrete sidewalks, floors, entryways or other areas of your building, you can end up paying for damages well into the spring and beyond. Since different facilities and different industries can face unique problems and concerns, it’s crucial to be prepared no matter what issues your facility may be up against. Do you know if your facility is prepared for winter? Take a look at our top three preparation tips that can keep your customers, employees, and facilities protected during the coldest and iciest months of the year.
Reexamine Foot Traffic Patterns
When winter comes, many facility managers are forced to change the way they think about their facility and the maintenance that goes along with it. In the spring and summer, maintenance managers are usually cleaning up dry soils that customers or employees track in on the bottom of their shoes. When the winter comes, you can see a clear change from dry soils to wet as the weather gets colder, snowier, icier and shoes start to carry in more moisture. If you have a lot of carpeting in your facility, now would be a good time to reexamine foot traffic patterns. When looking at the traffic patterns that people frequent the most, you can discover where extra matting is needed. Placing commercial mats in areas that need extra attention can stop the spread of moisture, prevent slip and fall accidents and can protect your facility floors from water damage and wear and tear.
Prepare for Snow and Ice Removal
No matter how prepared your facility is, it’s impossible to prevent a major winter storm from coming your way. Winter storms can bring an excess of snow and ice that presents major maintenance issues that could last days. To protect your facility from facing a slip and fall lawsuit, it’s important to stay ahead of the icing sidewalks and parking lots. You can do so by dedicating a team of facility managers that oversee the entire undertaking. Stocking up on salt and deicing materials can make the job easier when a storm does decide to hit. When planning for this type of weather you can also provide transitional mats that give people a place to wipe their feet before reentering your facility.
Are you interested in seeing how a commercial mat program can protect your facility this winter?
