If you own or manage a building, the council will not clear its private car park, internal roads or entrance paths. Manchester City Council states plainly that it does not grit any private land and that this is the responsibility of the landowner. Liverpool City Council's winter programme focuses on key routes and main roads. So the job of keeping residents, staff, visitors and contractors safe on your own ground in frost and snow falls to you or the contractor you appoint.
The good news is that a sensible plan is not complicated. HSE's guidance comes down to three things: know which areas are likely to ice, treat them at the right time with the right material, and keep people away from areas you cannot treat.
Who is responsible
Under the Occupiers' Liability Act 1957, an occupier of premises owes visitors a common duty of care: to take such care as is reasonable in all the circumstances to see that the visitor will be reasonably safe in using the premises. In a block of flats or a shared office building, that usually points to whoever controls the common parts, so check your lease, management agreement or contract to confirm who has agreed to do the gritting and who pays for it.
Where the site is also a workplace, the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 apply as well. Regulation 12 requires traffic routes not to be slippery in a way that exposes people to risk, and to be kept free, so far as is reasonably practicable, from any substance that may cause a person to slip, trip or fall. Ice and compacted snow on a route staff use every morning falls squarely within that.
Map the areas that ice first
HSE lists the areas to prioritise as building entrances, car parks, pedestrian walkways, shortcuts, sloped areas and areas constantly in the shade or wet. Walk the site with a plan and mark them. Typical trouble spots include:
- Main and secondary entrances, including the first metre or two inside the door where melt water is tracked in
- External steps, ramps and level access routes used by wheelchair users and buggies
- Car park entrances and exits, ramps between decks and the walk from parking bays to the door
- Fire exit routes and final exit doors, which must stay usable in any weather
- Paths in permanent shade, beside downpipes or under leaking gutters
- Desire lines and shortcuts across grass or planting that people use regardless of signs
If you cannot treat every route, decide which ones you will keep open and close or signpost the rest. HSE suggests diverting pedestrians to less slippery walkways and separating off the others with a barrier, and telling people where you will focus your efforts.
When to grit
HSE advises gritting when frost, ice or snow is forecast, or when walkways are likely to be damp or wet and surface temperatures are at or below freezing. The best times are early in the evening before the frost settles and early in the morning before people arrive. Salt does not work instantly, because it needs time to dissolve into the moisture on the surface.
Two cautions from the same guidance are worth building into the plan. Gritting in heavy rain washes the salt away, and compacted snow that turns to ice is difficult to treat effectively, so clear fresh snow before it is trodden down. HSE also warns that dawn frost can form on dry surfaces and is hard to predict, which is why a morning check matters even after a dry evening.
What to use
Rock salt is the most commonly used grit, according to HSE. GOV.UK's advice on clearing snow adds practical points: clear snow early in the day while it is fresh and loose, do not use water because it can refreeze into black ice, and pay extra attention to steps and steep paths where more salt may help. Sand or ash can give grip if salt runs short.
Do not rely on council salt bins for private ground. Manchester City Council says salt from its bins should not be used on private property such as driveways, and Liverpool City Council says its grit is for pavements and public footways, not driveways. Buy and store your own supply on site, in a covered bin near the areas it serves, before the first cold snap.
Keep a simple record
If someone does fall, you will want to show what was done and when. A short log is enough:
- The forecast checked and the decision made each day a frost or snow warning applies
- Time each area was treated or cleared, by whom, and the material used
- Routes closed or signposted, and when they reopened
- Stock levels of salt and when more was ordered
- Any slips reported, with the time, location and conditions
The log also shows whether the plan is realistic. If the morning round regularly finishes after residents have already left for work, start earlier or reduce the routes you commit to.
Fix the causes before winter
Many winter slip hazards start as maintenance problems. Overflowing gutters, cracked downpipes and blocked drains put water across paths that then freezes. External lighting that has failed leaves ice invisible on dark mornings. Our winter maintenance checklist for apartment buildings covers these checks, and our planned preventative maintenance checklist shows how to schedule them each autumn.
How Apex helps
Apex Options builds winter access plans into the maintenance schedules we run for residential and commercial buildings: mapping priority routes, agreeing who treats what and when, and keeping the records. Gutters, drains and external lighting are checked in autumn through our planned preventative maintenance service, and our reactive and emergency maintenance service covers the defects cold weather exposes, such as burst pipes and failed lighting.
Sources
- HSE, Slips and trips: frequently asked questions
- GOV.UK, Clear snow from a road, path or cycleway
- legislation.gov.uk, Occupiers' Liability Act 1957, section 2
- legislation.gov.uk, Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, regulation 12
- Manchester City Council, Gritting
- Liverpool City Council, Winter gritting