Ice or snow, be ready to go

Education through the academic year brings different risks to manage. In the autumn term, a school’s estate team should start to review how they will manage slips and trips. Jeanette Harris, committee member of Education Group at the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health, shares some advice.

Working in education is like being on a constant treadmill.  “No two days are the same”, a colleague of mine would regularly quote at the end of the day, and he was right. Education through the academic year brings different risks to manage. 

In the autumn term, a school’s estate team should start to review how they will manage slips and trips which are more prevalent in the autumn and winter months.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) states slips and trips happen during these seasons to a number of key factors: there is less daylight, leaves fall onto paths and become wet and slippery, and cold weather spells cause ice and snow to build up on paths.

As an employer (or occupier of a premises), all reasonable steps to reduce the risk of a foreseeable risk and accident from occurring should be taken. Simply, not clearing ice and snow does not mean you cannot be held liable for any injuries or accidents which may occur on your premises.

The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 requires that floors and traffic routes are to be kept in a safe condition for employees.

The Approved code of Practice (ACOP) to these regulations makes specific reference to minimising the risk from snow and ice. Therefore schools should have a procedure in place for snow clearing and gritting.

The Occupiers’ Liability Act 1992, under Section 2, states the occupier extends a common duty of care to all visitors saying they should ‘take such care as in all the circumstances of the case is reasonable to see that the visitor will be reasonably safe in using the premises for the purposes for which he is invited or permitted by the occupier to be there.’

Tips to reduce slips

There are some simple and effective actions that you can take as a school to reduce the risk of a slip or trip. Regardless of a site’s size, it is important to always ensure that issues affecting regularly used walkways are tackled promptly.

Managed through a ‘plan, do, check and act’ approach effectively, it is essential evidence of what actions have been taken to prevent any slips, trips and falls from occurring.

Snow and ice – advice from the HSE

To reduce the risk of slips on ice, frost or snow, you need to assess the risk and put in place a system to manage it.

This includes identifying the outdoor areas used by pedestrians most likely to be affected by ice. For example building entrances, car parks, pedestrian walkways, shortcuts, sloped areas and areas constantly in the shade or wet. Also consider lighting in winter months.

Temperatures should be monitored, and weather service websites such as the Met Office or the Highways Agency should be used to keep updated.

Put a procedure in place to prevent an icy surface forming and/or keep pedestrians off the slippery surface.

Use grit or something similar, and ensure this is ordered in time ahead of the winter months and stock is regularly monitored to prevent running out during poor weather periods.

Consider covering walkways, and divert pedestrians to less slippery walkways and barrier off existing ones.

If warning cones are used, remember to remove them once the hazard has passed or they will eventually be ignored.

Inform staff and public prior to snow/ice of which routes will be gritted/cleared and provide up to date information on the routes they should take.

Suitable doormats should be in place on entrance to the school to allow any slush from shoes to be removed. Corridors should be regularly monitored for wet flooring and cleaned/dried as soon as possible. Wet floor signs should be used if required.

Gritting should be carried out when frost, ice or snow is forecast or when walkways are likely to be damp or wet, and the floor temperatures are at, or below freezing. The best times are early in the evening before the frost settles and/or early in the morning before employees arrive. Salt doesn’t work instantly; it needs sufficient time to dissolve into the moisture on the floor.

If you grit when it is raining heavily, the salt will be washed away, causing a problem if the rain then turns to snow. Compacted snow, which turns to ice, is difficult to treat effectively with grit. Be aware that ‘dawn frost’ can occur on dry surfaces, when early morning dew forms and freezes on impact with the cold surface. It can be difficult to predict when or where this condition will occur.

If an accident happens

In the event of an accident, consider how you would be able to answer the following: Does the organisation have a policy for dealing with access and egress in icy weather? Is the policy effective? Was a risk assessment carried out?

Were walkways prioritised for treatment and, if so, how? How many staff (including contractors) were deployed to the task? Were extra staff drafted in? If not, why not? How much grit was used? What sort of snow clearing equipment was used? What pressures were there on resources? What measures did schools take to increase supervision of pupils entering and leaving school and during any external playtime?

Case example 

In the 1992 case of Murphy v Bradford Metropolitan Council, a teacher sustained an injury from falling on an icy path that had been cleared of snow by the school caretaker and had been treated with rock salt less than an hour before the fall. The employer (the Council) was found to have failed in their duty of care, under the Occupiers’ Liability Act, to see that the claimant was reasonably safe. In this case, the slope where the teacher fell was dangerous and notorious for slips. As a result, the court felt the Council should have given it a greater degree of attention.

An important case showing that a suitable Gritting Policy can protect the company

In the Court of Appeal case of Gitsham v CH Pearce and Sons PLC (1991), an employee brought a personal injury claim following a slip on a snow-covered roadway outside his place of work. The premises were situated on a 6-acre site on high ground and exposed to wind and weather. On the morning of the accident (which happened at 08:45 am) the weather conditions were poor. It had snowed overnight and continued to snow that morning and conditions were described as a windy blizzard. 

   The employer’s system of gritting began at 7:00 am before people arrived for work at 7:30 am and if carried out with no delays would complete at around 08:05 am which would have been before the Claimants accident. The court heard evidence that the gritting took longer that morning and the area on which the Claimant slipped and fell had not been gritted. The Court, however, held that the Defendants had done all that was reasonably practicable having regard to the weather circumstances at the time. Importantly, the court found in favour of the employer (occupier) because they did have a gritting policy in place, and this had been carried out to the extent that was reasonably practicable.

   The Court of Appeal found that the employer had an extensive procedure for clearing snow and ice which was being properly carried out on the morning of the accident and that the defendant had done all that was reasonably practicable in the severe weather conditions to ensure that the access roads were safe.