Risk assessment is often used when discussing health and safety, it is a prerequisite for firms which employ more than five members of staff, but more generally it is good advice for any business, large or small, to adopt when considering the safety of the workforce and the general public during times of severe weather.

There are some general measures which can be put to good use by the employer in question.

• Firstly they should look closely at which of the outdoor areas are likely to be affected by snow and ice and also which of these areas are most at need of treatment. So main paths into the building and from the car park should be looked at first.
• Take preventative measures. Just a quick look at the weather forecasts for the next few days can give an employer a guide as to what is likely to happen within the next 24 to 48 hours and if there is a high risk of snow and ice action can be taken to minimise the effects such weather can have. Be prepared is the motto!
• Keep treating the areas affected. So the business can take action to reduce the threat of anybody slipping on ice by gritting areas where people are likely to be walking, possibly covering a section of a walkway or by focussing on certain treatable areas and keeping people off certain routes by putting signs up or putting up a barrier to stop them.

Gritting is the most common method of getting rid of ice on walkways with rock salt being the usual type of grit used. It is also used by the Highways Agency on the majority of public roads to treat icy conditions across the country and is at its most effective when it is broken down, which is why it is more effective on roads, where cars are continually treading it into the road, rather than on paths.

Again, the business should have a look at the weather forecast for the week ahead and plan accordingly. If there is the threat of ice developing on untreated surfaces then the business can act in advance by putting down grit in the evening, before the temperatures plummet or first thing in the morning, before employees begin arriving for work. It should be borne in mind however that if there is rain the grit can be washed away while hard snow, which then turns to ice, is especially difficult to treat effectively.

The HSE has reported of one prison in the north of England which has put in place a new procedure to help deal with extreme bad weather which is a model which could provide guidance for any organisation of any size. First, the prison phones a weather line to find out the current road situations, then if needed they grit selected areas at 4pm and then at 7am the following morning, they monitor the weather throughout the day and have an on-call gritter to tackle some areas before the main staff arrive at work in the morning.

The prison has said that since this new method of approaching bad weather was introduced there has been a reduction in the number of slips, so proving that businesses can be more proactive than reactive when deciding what to do when the forecast predicts snow and ice.