Winter Safe Walkways

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Slips, trips and falls are a year-round problem, but winter snowfalls bring additional challenges for your business. Staying on top of the winter weather can help the season pass painlessly for your business, and turn your business into a safer winter destination for staff, partners and customers. Properly taking care of your property during the winter months helps avoid dangerous conditions and potential injuries. Here’s some tips to manage your outdoor walkways.

Conduct a Site Audit to Identify Potential Problems

A pre-winter site audit is a great way to get ahead of potential problems. Start by looking for hazards that might be hidden by snow or make winter walking more dangerous. Pay close attention to uneven pavement or sidewalk sections as they are more likely to trip up a pedestrian once they’re obscured by snow and ice.
Next, identify areas where water might pool (eg. potholes & cracks) or drain across pedestrian routes (eg. runoff from downspouts). When the temperature drops, these areas will be prone to freezing over leading to dangerous ice accumulation.
Lastly, map out the most trafficked walkways (eg. entranceways) and pedestrian areas so that your snow and ice management plan can address those areas first. Pay special attention to steps and other transition areas – keeping these key areas free of snow and ice will dramatically reduce the risk of winter slips, trips and falls.

Pretreat Walkways & High Trafficked Pedestrian Areas

It is said that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Taking a preventative approach to managing your outdoor walkways is certainly worth the effort and will go a long way towards keeping your property safe for staff, partners and customers.
Applying brine (a mixture of water and salt) to your walkways prior to a snowfall can help prevent snow and ice from bonding with the pavement, making it much easier to remove later. Liquids can be applied precisely and remain on sidewalks for days, helping to reduce the amount of salt and labour required to achieve similar results compared to deicing after snow has fallen.

Monitor Conditions Before, During & After a Snowfall

Monitoring weather conditions leading into a snowfall can help ensure you’re prepared for whatever winter throws at you. During a snowfall, continue to monitor weather conditions and the amount of snow accumulation on walkways throughout the day. Later on, if daytime temperatures are warm enough to thaw ice you’ll want to keep an eye out for the formation of black ice the following morning. This hard-to-see, thin layer of ice is extremely slippery and not always easy to see.

Established in 1999 and serving customers in Vaughan, Concord, Brampton and the surrounding areas, Central Groundskeeping has a proven track record of supplying consistent and reliable commercial property maintenance services for all 4 seasons.  Hundreds of commercial and industrial clients have come to rely on Central Groundskeeping to keep their business looking and operating at its very best all year long.

Our strength is our team and now we’re growing again! Central Groundskeeping is involved in year round property maintenance, and offers both seasonal, and year-round full time employment. At Central Groundskeeping we offer competitive pay, excellent training and the opportunity for advancement. Check out our Careers page to learn more and to view all job openings.