If you are putting the task of organising professional gritting services for your UK business on hold because you expect another mild winter – think again. While it may seem cost-effective to go with the various weather predictions first, transferring ‘organising gritting services’ to the bottom of your ‘to-do list, this could put the welfare of your staff – and ultimately the reputation of your business – at risk.
Why? As this article shows, the likelihood and frequency of snow and ice is hard to predict months in advance. The only solution is to use a professional gritting company who closely monitor localised weather conditions and grit only when necessary, which gives you, and your employees, year round peace of mind.
Gritting Services – click here to find out more about how we can help you.
A look back at the winter of 2013/14
Last winter (2013-2014) harsh weather was forecast as far back as October when we were urged to get ready for the ‘big freeze’ ahead. On Saturday October 12, the Daily Express ran the headline: ‘The Worse Winter for Decades: Record-Breaking Snow Predicted for November’. The article warned ‘the entire country’ was set for a ‘horror freeze’ which would ‘bring brutal winds and fierce blizzards.’ However, the passage of time showed this wasn’t the case, and while some places did experience significant snowfall, the UK overall had a comparatively mild winter; other areas, such as the Anglian region had no ground settlement of snow at all.
In fact, dire warnings of heavy snow featured prominently in the media in the autumn. On September 10, the Daily Mail ran a light hearted article referring to the 2014 Old Farmer’s Almanac which warned we might have to dust off our snow shovels to brace ourselves for a ‘bitter cold’ winter.
As it happened, although there were some levels of ice and snow around the UK, it was nothing like the ‘big freeze’ people were expecting. The weather formation that was forecast, in fact, hit North America very hard but was blocked from reaching Britain. Instead, stormy and wet weather battered many areas, especially in the South, with heavy flooding posing the biggest threat to homes and businesses in some areas. The winter of 2013/14 turned out to be, not the coldest, but the wettest on record in England and Wales for nearly 250 years (since the rainfall series began).
Preparing ahead for the British weather
There is no doubt that British people have long been obsessed by the weather and are always trying to predict it. The reason for this is that the UK weather varies considerably from year to year: while winter of 2012/13 was dominated by snow and ice, people faced strong winds and flooding in 2013/14.
So, how can we plan ahead? The variable weather makes it hard for businesses to arrange gritting on an ad hoc basis. The solution is to use professional gritting services, such as Ice Watch for your UK business. We closely monitor weather conditions, and only grit as and when needed – so we can pass these savings on to you. You know that whenever the weather takes a turn for the worst and there is a need to grit, you can rest assured the job will be done for you.
Less certainty means a greater need for gritting services
In practice, we all know the UK will receive a good amount of ice and snow most winters – even a relatively wet and mild one. Taking the country as a whole, even if there is no chance of a big chill, there is still a strong likelihood of occasional ice formation on some of the roads and pavements. As mentioned in our last blog post, gritters were still out on the roads of East Anglia last winter.
Certainly, some companies only take snow and ice precautions when there’s a big and definite freeze forecast. However, stocking up on grit and shovels, training staff and arranging rotas, doesn’t offer suitable precautionary measures if the weather turns unexpectedly bleak. And, without the careful, daily monitoring of conditions throughout the winter period this can leave your business wide open to risk.
Arranging gritting services from a UK supplier is akin to taking out insurance. For example, you don’t take out business insurance because you think a person is about to make a claim against you. You take it out because you want to take precautionary measures; as the consequences of not doing so could spell financial disaster for your business.
To ensure the safety of your premises whatever the weather, Ice Watch carry out a risk assessment, put Health and Safety measures in place, keep documents and closely monitor local weather conditions. This is efficient, accurate and far more cost-effective (in terms of actual cost as well as staff time and disruption) than organising in-house preparations , or worse, doing nothing and then suffering the cost of business disruption and potential liability claims.
Ice Watch – Follow the link to find out how we can help.
Related articles:
Three Strategies for Snow and Ice Removal
Tuesday 29 April 2014
Wednesday 9 April 2014
Why UK Gritting Services are Still Needed Even in a Mild Winter
This year’s (2014) mild winter still saw UK gritting services out on the road in the late evening, or early hours of the morning. Why? Even if you are faced with spring-like weather during the day, the temperature can still plummet dramatically at night causing ice to settle on roads, car parks and footpaths.
Take Suffolk, for instance, the county is not on high ground and the weather is fairly mild in comparison to Scotland and Northern England. However, the county council Tweeted they gritted hundreds of miles of roads on two dozen occasions between New Year’s Day and March 1.
In addition to this, they also used Twitter to remind drivers to take care when motoring as not all routes are gritted. For this reason, it is vital for business owners to employ the services of private gritting contractors, such as Ice Watch, to ensure the safety of people getting to and from their premises.
UK Gritting Services - contact us now to arrange a free quote.
A glimpse at County Council gritting services in Suffolk
Like Ice Watch, councils rely on specialist forecasts to predict localised road surface temperatures – and the green light to grit is triggered when temperatures fall to 1C and below. The road temperature is lower than air temperature, so it means gritting may be necessary, despite the lack of snow.
Explaining the reason to grit in mild weather, a county council spokesman told the Ipswich Evening Star: “The surface temperature is much lower than a couple of feet off the ground and we have to rely on forecasts,” he said.
“If we had a warning from our specialist forecasters and didn’t act on it and then there were accidents, people would quite understandably be very angry about that.”
The council explained that gritting wasn’t just about dealing with snow, but also ice and frost that settles in freezing conditions.
This year’s winter was a welcome comparison to last year when the cost of the county council’s gritting went £800,000 over budget and the council used twice as much salt as in the previous year.
Why it is important for businesses to be prepared
"I prepare for the worst but hope for the best,” is the famous quote by Benjamin Disraeli, UK’s Prime Minister between 1874 and 1880. As a business owner, you never know when frost might strike or when to expect snowfall, so it is important to do just that – be prepared so you are not caught out.
With the British weather so unpredictable, it is vital to be organised well in advance of frost or snow flurries. Although December in East Anglia last year (2012) was the 12th warmest winter in 114 years, last year saw several Arctic blasts. And next year, who knows what will happen?
Even with spring approaching, you cannot rest on your laurels because UK records show snowfall is more likely to happen during the months of March and April, than it is in November and October.
Businesses need to remain open and deliveries still need to be made whatever the weather.
So, if you contact UK gritting services, such as Ice Watch now, you will be fully prepared and can get your risk assessment done well in advance before bad weather strikes.
How Ice Watch keeps things moving
UK gritting services are vital in winter and most of the time we, as motorists, take for granted that the gritters are working round the clock to keep roads safe.
As well as for everyday drivers, gritters play a vital role in the corporate world as they help keep businesses open and running smoothly and ensure people can go to work as normal, and deliveries can be made.
Car parks that aren’t gritted can have a knock on effect financially for some businesses. Some gastro pubs and restaurants, for instance, have found their takings drop in snowy weather if their car parks aren’t gritted because customers decide to play safe and go elsewhere to eat.
Not only this, if you run an organisation, you are under a legal obligation to keep staff and customers safe. Not all roads are covered by council gritters, so solving the problem means organising private UK gritting services to keep roadways, car parks and walkways free of ice. Ice Watch gives you complete peace of mind knowing that you have done all you can to prevent injuries in harsh weather.
Ice Watch offers a complete service, including gritting, snow clearance and the provision of grit buckets. Our services include risk assessments and reporting and careful monitoring of weather conditions, and you can rely on us to set our wheels in motion when temperatures plummet. There’s no wastage as Ice Watch only grit as and when necessary, and we keep things running smoothly even in the most unpredictable weather.
Ice Watch - contact us now to organise a risk assessment.
Take Suffolk, for instance, the county is not on high ground and the weather is fairly mild in comparison to Scotland and Northern England. However, the county council Tweeted they gritted hundreds of miles of roads on two dozen occasions between New Year’s Day and March 1.
In addition to this, they also used Twitter to remind drivers to take care when motoring as not all routes are gritted. For this reason, it is vital for business owners to employ the services of private gritting contractors, such as Ice Watch, to ensure the safety of people getting to and from their premises.
UK Gritting Services - contact us now to arrange a free quote.
A glimpse at County Council gritting services in Suffolk
Like Ice Watch, councils rely on specialist forecasts to predict localised road surface temperatures – and the green light to grit is triggered when temperatures fall to 1C and below. The road temperature is lower than air temperature, so it means gritting may be necessary, despite the lack of snow.
Explaining the reason to grit in mild weather, a county council spokesman told the Ipswich Evening Star: “The surface temperature is much lower than a couple of feet off the ground and we have to rely on forecasts,” he said.
“If we had a warning from our specialist forecasters and didn’t act on it and then there were accidents, people would quite understandably be very angry about that.”
The council explained that gritting wasn’t just about dealing with snow, but also ice and frost that settles in freezing conditions.
This year’s winter was a welcome comparison to last year when the cost of the county council’s gritting went £800,000 over budget and the council used twice as much salt as in the previous year.
Why it is important for businesses to be prepared
"I prepare for the worst but hope for the best,” is the famous quote by Benjamin Disraeli, UK’s Prime Minister between 1874 and 1880. As a business owner, you never know when frost might strike or when to expect snowfall, so it is important to do just that – be prepared so you are not caught out.
With the British weather so unpredictable, it is vital to be organised well in advance of frost or snow flurries. Although December in East Anglia last year (2012) was the 12th warmest winter in 114 years, last year saw several Arctic blasts. And next year, who knows what will happen?
Even with spring approaching, you cannot rest on your laurels because UK records show snowfall is more likely to happen during the months of March and April, than it is in November and October.
Businesses need to remain open and deliveries still need to be made whatever the weather.
So, if you contact UK gritting services, such as Ice Watch now, you will be fully prepared and can get your risk assessment done well in advance before bad weather strikes.
How Ice Watch keeps things moving
UK gritting services are vital in winter and most of the time we, as motorists, take for granted that the gritters are working round the clock to keep roads safe.
As well as for everyday drivers, gritters play a vital role in the corporate world as they help keep businesses open and running smoothly and ensure people can go to work as normal, and deliveries can be made.
Car parks that aren’t gritted can have a knock on effect financially for some businesses. Some gastro pubs and restaurants, for instance, have found their takings drop in snowy weather if their car parks aren’t gritted because customers decide to play safe and go elsewhere to eat.
Not only this, if you run an organisation, you are under a legal obligation to keep staff and customers safe. Not all roads are covered by council gritters, so solving the problem means organising private UK gritting services to keep roadways, car parks and walkways free of ice. Ice Watch gives you complete peace of mind knowing that you have done all you can to prevent injuries in harsh weather.
Ice Watch offers a complete service, including gritting, snow clearance and the provision of grit buckets. Our services include risk assessments and reporting and careful monitoring of weather conditions, and you can rely on us to set our wheels in motion when temperatures plummet. There’s no wastage as Ice Watch only grit as and when necessary, and we keep things running smoothly even in the most unpredictable weather.
Ice Watch - contact us now to organise a risk assessment.
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