The top three winter gritting site preparation tasks you can easily do today

Your pre-winter site preparations should be well underway by now. Here are our top three winter site preparation tips you can make to ensure your estate is safe and compliant for the season ahead.

1. Leaf clearing

For the winter best site preparation, we recommend that leaves are cleared from roads, paths and car parks regularly. The most common leaf-related issues are:

• Blocked drains and gutters
• Hiding potholes and slip/trip hazards
• Untidy and messy site appearance.

Did you know, when it’s freezing outside, ice often forms under leaves which can prevent winter gritting salt from reaching it, making for an extremely treacherous surface.

If you have space on your site, we recommend you dedicate an area where the leaves can be composted to create a nutrient-rich soil and support the local wildlife.

2. Drainage maintenance

Drain maintenance should be a year-round task, but it’s especially important to make sure your drains are clear and well-maintained in autumn and winter. A blocked drain, poor drainage or ponding can cause significant problems to sites and standing water can mean a costly and time-consuming repair potentially leading to business disruption. OUTCO offers the following drainage services:

• High-pressure water jetting and cleaning
• Drainpipe cleaning
• No-dig drain repair
• Drain surveys and planned maintenance.

3. Site preparation – inspect your estate

It’s good practice to proactively and periodically walk around your site to identify and attend to any issues before they have time to develop into larger problems.

We appreciate that time is a valuable commodity for a busy FM manager, which is where we can support you. OUTCO operatives often spend more time across your site than anyone else. Our staff are trained to be your extra set of eyes and ears and will report back to you any issues through our “don’t-walk-by” principle. Issues commonly identified include:

• Surfaces: potholes, cracks, trip hazards
• Drains: blocked drains, standing water
• Grounds: low-hanging or dead tree branches
• Reactive: damaged fencing, broken benches, graffiti
• Maintenance: leaking air conditioning units, dripping taps, broken windows.

Bonus tip: Order your grit bin & winter salt supply today

It pays to be prepared and the simple task of ordering your site grit bins and winter salt will give you peace of mind that you have this additional level of winter protection. As the saying goes: fail to prepare, then prepare to fail.

Keep your customers safe and book your winter maintenance services

Our advice couldn’t be simpler: don’t wait until it gets cold before booking your winter services.

To find out how we can work together, or to obtain a free winter gritting quote or site inspection, please contact us today.