Icy Parking Lots and Walkways

Reality Alert

A childcare worker slipped on an icy patch of the sidewalk after finishing her shift. The long-time employee had severe arthritis which made cushioning her fall extremely difficult. After hitting her face and body on the cement, she had to be taken via ambulance to the local emergency room. Fortunately, after a variety of x-rays and scans, no critical injuries were discovered. She was lucky to escape the fall with only minor bruising.

Statistics

With parents and children walking back and forth from their cars to your facility everyday, the potential for slips, trips, and falls on your premises is enormous. Unfortunately, this pedestrian traffic doesn’t slow down when the winter storms start blowing through.

With ice and snow gradually building up through the winter months, your facility or in-home daycare will experience a greater slip and fall exposure, and West Bend claims representatives can attest to that. Our worker’s compensation and general liability adjusters see more claims in the winter months than any other time of the year; it should come as no surprise that a high percentage of their winter workload is the result of weather-related slips and falls.

Loss Prevention Ideas

While you do the very best you can to keep parents happy and their children safe, the responsibility of providing quality childcare often makes shoveling and plowing extremely difficult. Despite your best efforts, you won’t be able to keep your premises 100% slip-free, but you can minimize your slip-and-fall exposure by considering these recommendations:

Contract with a Reputable Plowing Company

If you’re not already contracting out your plowing and shoveling needs, you may want to consider spending the money to do so. By working with a reputable company and obtaining certificates of insurance, you can shift most of the liability you would otherwise face. After obtaining certificates of insurance, it’s important to sit down and put together a thorough snow removal action plan. Clearly identify when the contractor should plow or shovel and where the snow should go. Be sure to tell the contractor when your parking lot has the most traffic and your typical hours of operation.

Shovel Safely and Thoroughly

We’ve found most facilities shovel their own sidewalks and walkways. From a cost standpoint this makes sense but you open yourself up to increased liability and injuries to employees. Keeping a shoveling and salting log is a great way to minimize liability. When you can show your employees did their best to stay on top of shoveling and salting, most courts will dismiss frivolous claims arising from slips on ice. Also remember to clear all emergency exits in addition to the main access points. Teach employees proper techniques for shoveling and salting to prevent repetitive motion, back, and shoulder injuries.

Handrails

Handrails work wonders for reducing the frequency and severity of slip-and-fall injuries in the winter months. Large home improvement stores typically carry pre-assembled outdoor handrails that can be relatively easy to install. Place handrails along all major thoroughfares and stairwells.

Document Injuries

Despite your very best efforts, a winter weather slip-and-fall injury may take place on your premises. If a parent or employee reports he/she has fallen on your sidewalk or in your parking lot, investigate the allegation immediately. Identify exactly where the fall occurred and consider taking pictures. If ice or snow did contribute to the fall, ask someone to shovel or plow as soon as possible. If there’s no clear indication of ice or snow, make a note of the last time the area was plowed, shoveled, or salted.