Before the storm hits

© Jeffrey Roach l Dreamstime.com

You can never prepare enough for the winter season. Spending the time, effort, and money up front will increase your profits and allow your business to grow with efficiencies that separate you from your competition. Being prepared, trained and ready to go is the key to success in this industry.

Pre- and post-season inspections.

Training your employees to properly document pre- and post-season inspections is an extremely important element in a successful snow season. This helps protect your company and your clients for undeserved blame being attached to your business. Documenting each and every broken curb, speed bump, cart corral, dumpster enclosure will save you significantly after the storms. If damage is brought against your business, you will have documentation showing that the damage was on the property prior to your arrival and plowing. Do not rely on he said she said, or “I know it was there already.” Have the proof, train your management and staff to be extremely diligent in the pre and post season inspections, ensure you have a form that allows for a member of the locations management to sign off on the inspections that way it is validated that you and your business is in the clear for damages you did not create.

Slip-and-falls.

Train your employees on the importance of ensuring that slip and falls do not occur on their routes. Explain to them why and explain the costs associated with each slip and fall. Slip and falls can be extremely costly and detrimental to a business. Ensuring lots are pre-treated with deicer, ensuring snow is not piled behind cars, ensuring sidewalks are completely cleaned and deiced, ensuring that handicapped areas are shoveled, plowed, and deiced, paying attention to bus stops and loading docks, employee parking areas, are key to avoiding costly slip and falls.

Training your employees to understand what a great job is and how they provide that great service will reduce the number of slip and falls on each route. Ensuring that site maps are followed and that your employees have been trained on exactly what the expectation of a clear lot will allow your clients and your clients customers to enter their business’s safely during this winter’s storms.

Blizzard management.

Having a specific training on blizzard management is a key to being successful. Blizzards put stress on all who are working in them. The hours are longer, the snow is heavier and the danger is increased. But having an exact road map laid out for your employees will prepare them for the longest worst storms Mother Nature has to offer. Blizzard management plans should include “after the storm protocol” as well. Getting all your paper work complete and the billing done correctly is just as important as plowing the snow. Including your blizzard management in a weekly snow meeting will ensure that they are ready for what is coming. New snow employees will be prepared for what will happen, and seasoned veterans can share stories of what worked and what could be done better. These blizzard training sessions will be extremely valuable to your business.

Vince Ortiz is the chief operating officer at Transblue, a Lynwood, Washington-based snow removal service.