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Working in cold weather — how employers and organisations can mitigate the risks

The HSE has refreshed its advice to employers on protecting the welfare of their employees during icy weather and cold snaps.

As the UK shivers in the icy grip of prolonged sub-zero temperatures, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has refreshed its guidance to employers on how they should protect the welfare of their employees. The guidance delineates between those working indoors and those working outdoors.

Indoor working

The Approved Code of Practice contained within the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations stipulates that for indoor working the minimum temperature should be at least 16°c or 13°c if much of the work involves “rigorous physical effort”. Additionally, employers should provide adequate heating, minimise exposure to cold areas and cold products, provide protective clothing, ensure adequate breaks and insulate floor coverings or provide special footwear if workers are standing on cold surfaces.

Workplace temperatures should be monitored and special heed should be paid to those employees with medical conditions such as Raynaud’s phenomenon which may be triggered by the cold.

Whilst recognising that for those working in chill units (with an ambient temperature of around 0°c) suitable clothing and footwear is generally sufficient, separate guidance (British Standard 7915 — Ergonomics of the Thermal Environment) applies to blast freezer workers where temperatures can be as low as minus 30°c.  

Outdoor working

For those working outdoors, employers will need, by means of an adequate risk assessment, to identify the necessary control measures — appropriate personal protective equipment, suitable breaks, mobile warming rooms and training employees to recognise the early symptoms of cold stress — generally cough or body aches. The contents of the risk assessment, including the control measures, should be shared with employees to ensure they have sufficient information and instruction.

The increased risk of slip and trip accidents

Even when the UK’s climate is much more temperate, slipping and tripping accidents are the most prevalent cause of all workplace injuries. Sub-zero temperatures increase the risks of slipping even further.

What then can an occupier or employer do to mitigate the risks to employees and members of the public from ice, snow and frost?  

Whilst much of the guidance issued by the HSE will be regarded as common sense, it is worthy of repetition. It includes:

  • The application of grit to areas prone to be slippery.
  • Cover walkways if practicable or use an insulating material in smaller areas overnight.
  • Divert pedestrians to less slippery walkways.
  • If all walkways can’t be treated, advise employees where you will focus your efforts.
  • Remove hazard cones from areas which subsequently become non-hazardous to prevent employees from ignoring the cones on future occasions.

Rock salt is used by the Highways Agency and is the most commonly used form of “grit,” with salt found to be less effective unless used in its powdered form.

The HSE advise that gritting should be carried out when frost, snow or ice is forecast or when the temperature is at or below freezing. Application should be early in the evening before the frost settles or early in the morning before employees arrive for work. Consequently, it will be necessary for employers to monitor the weather forecasts and to take both proactive and reactive steps in the event of inclement weather.

Preventative measures such as gritting, warning and demarcation are generally inexpensive to carry out when placed in the context of a personal injury claim brought by an employee where the potential cost, both in pure financial terms and the cost of investigation, could run to tens of thousands of pounds.

Should you wish to discuss this article further or any of the points raised regarding occupational hazards or health and safety in the workplace, please get in touch with our expert team of health and safety solicitors today.