Every winter season, cold temperatures and icy conditions in your construction site are unavoidable. They become a safety concern each year and not only that. They also affect the machinery, equipment, and materials used in building. For these reasons, it’s crucial to prepare your construction site for the winter.
Winter is Coming: 7 Tips to Get Your Construction Site Winter-Ready
If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. As a contractor, planning to fail is the last thing you want to happen to you. Here are important tips to keep in mind so you can be successful in getting your site winter-ready.
- Keep track of the weather forecast.
Winter is known to be one of the harshest of all seasons. For your building team’s safety, it’s best to stay on top of weather forecasts. Know when it’s safe to send them to the construction site and when it’s not wise to do so.
- Prepare the heat source.
Since temperatures are expected to reach freezing point, having portable heaters on the site are a must. Just be sure that the heaters are in good working condition to prevent unwanted accidents. Position them in fire-resistant and well-ventilated areas.
- Get the lighting ready.
It’s hard for your builders to work during winter due to reduced amount of silent. To make things easier for them, set up lights where they are needed so they can work more efficiently and safely.
- Set up safety netting.
The winter season will surely bring strong winds. Since you’ll have employees working in areas like the roof, it’s a must to put safety netting in place to keep them safe.
- Ensure that the quality of building materials is preserved.
Some construction operations like masonry-related work, drywall finishing, and painting can take a longer period to finish during winter. For this reason, following the manufacturer’s’ guidelines to make sure that finished products will work as expected during cold-weather material installation is a must.
- Check the vehicle’s conditions.
Since it’s required for your construction truck drivers to travel to and from the site, it’s important that the vehicle conditions are checked before they leave. Tires and lights should be working before they head off to areas they are supposed to go.
- Clear away snow regularly.
Make use of grit and salt to stop frost formation. Apply them in pathways and roads regularly so they remain operational even during the coldest winter days.
Get Your Construction Ready for the Winter Now
With proper preparation and planning, your construction site will be on its way to being operational with minimal safety hazards. Get your construction site winter-ready as early as possible so when winter finally arrives, you can be confident that you’ll get through this harsh season just fine.
Written by Hubert Builders, a full service commercial construction company in Columbia, MO.