Winter Weather Safety

Although snow can be pretty, it can also be extremely dangerous when people are working at height. For this reason, people need to employ some of these concepts when they are about to access different work areas. There may be times when workers do not know the best practices for certain situations, and then there may be other times where workers may resist the safety recommendations that have been proposed to them. Either way, workplace safety is a group effort, and it’s important for people to be informed about safer workplace practices.

It is always a good idea to use either a broom or a shovel to clear off a work area whenever it is covered in snow.  Cleaning off the snow will give you a clearer surface to walk on, and you’ll be able to tell where ice patches are lurking. Any ice or hail that has been frozen into place should be scraped off if it isn’t too thick. Removing these ice patches should make walking and working surfaces slightly less dangerous. However, it is not recommended that you put salt down on your working surface because the salt may damage the integrity of whatever surface you are working on. In an effort to promote all types of safety, it is most prudent not to use melting salt unless you are 100% sure that the material will not react to it.

Although this may seem obvious, it’s always a good reminder: if you’re going to be working outside in colder temperatures, make sure that you wear something designed for winter weather. A thick winter hat can be useful for locking in the heat that is lost through your head. A set of sturdy, waterproof boots can help keep a worker’s feet firmly planted and dry. And ultimately, it is important to consider the different types of gloves and hand protection that would be most useful for an application. Wearing gloves is the best way for a worker to protect his or her hands from cold winter weather. And, having warm hands also means that you will be able to move your hands quickly and effectively while climbing or completing a task.

In an effort to protect equipment that will be outdoors and exposed to all different kinds of elements, Rigid Lifelines has been utilizing an enclosed track design. This style of fall protection is important because it protects the trolley device from being exposed to the elements. The enclosure also keeps a majority of the parts clean and functioning smoothly. Using a trolley that moves effectively and doesn’t get jammed from exposure to frozen weather reduces a worker’s risk of experiencing either swing fall or suspension trauma. When a trolley can effectively follow a worker without any obstructions, it is much safer for the worker who is attached to the system. And, when Rigid Lifelines was developing the Anchor Trolley, we performed a series of rigorous cold weather and elemental tests on the device.  Our tests proved, time and again, that the Anchor Trolley could stand up to even the most extreme winter weather and still effectively arrest a worker’s fall and prevent drift on the track.

Almost every style of enclosed fall protection track is available in stainless steel, if desired or useful for your working location. But, if there will be many corrosive chemicals near the fall protection system, either a galvanized or an epoxy coating would be a wise choice for protecting the longevity of the system, especially if the system is in an area where it could use some extra protection.

If you are going to need fall protection outdoors and you live in an area that tends to experience intense winter weather, you should make sure that you are using a steel cable SRL for fall arrest. Steel cable SRLs are recommended for heavy winter, outdoor applications because they are more robust.

As you prepare your outdoor workspaces for winter weather, we hope that you will have a safe and successful season. If you have any other workspace winterizing questions, feel free to ask them below or email us at: info@rigidlifelines.com.

Until next time, stay safe up there!