As a property owner and landlord, you understand the importance of maintaining safe conditions on your properties. With winter and its accompanying snow, ice and weather conditions, you must give safety consideration extra attention.
in doing so, you will ensure the safety of the people who visit your properties, while warding off injuries and any potential lawsuit pertaining to a premises liability claim.
Focus on snow, melting snow and ice
What can you do? For starters, focus on the snow, melting snow and ice that may form on your sidewalks and parking lots. Shovel and plow those sidewalks, and do not forget the threat of ice, often found underneath the snow.
Melting ice turns into water and may flow along sidewalks and parking lots. In time, it refreezes and often creates wider patches of ice in the area. Also, cracks in sidewalks and parking lots absorb that water. When that water refreezes, the cracks can expand, leading to further tripping dangers.
Turn attention to inside of buildings, too
Your attention, however, should not just focus on the outside of your properties.
The inside of your buildings also may prove hazardous to the public during the winter. That is why it is crucial to maintain common areas.
With people entering and exiting your properties during winter, they are bound to track in snow and grit-filled snow that eventually will melt on floors. This provides another chance for dangerous slipping hazards.
Some helpful tips
Here are a few crucial tips that will help you promote safety on your property during winter:
- Regularly shovel your sidewalks and plow parking lots.
- Sprinkle salt and sand on your sidewalks and parking lots to melt ice and provide better traction.
- Monitor sidewalks, parking lots and common areas for any safety hazards.
- Maintain common areas, including lobbies, corridors, hallways, stairwells and entrances.
- Make sure your maintenance and servicing plans are up-to-date and address any recommendations that surfaced during recent inspections.
- Have good lighting inside and outside your properties. Good lighting will make it easier to spot hazards such as loose floor mats and ice build-ups.
Please consider taking these safety measures. They can only help you.
Lessening the chances someone gets hurt
As a property owner, it is your responsibility to maintain safe conditions every season. During winter, though, many additional safety hazards may surface. By keeping a watchful eye and completing regular maintenance, you lessen the chances that someone gets hurt on your property.
