Steps To Take To Prevent People From Being Injured By Falling Snow

When you own a property that people visit, there are a handful of safety risks over the winter months that you must address. You don't want a visitor to slip and fall on the snowy or icy ground, sustain an injury, and then take legal action against you. However, there's also a risk of snow sliding off your roof and landing on someone, causing a serious injury. To avoid such an issue and the subsequent legal action, there are several important steps that you should take. You can't prevent it snowing, but you can prevent injuries that result from snow coming off of your roof. Here are some strategies that you can employ:

Install Snow Guards

Before the winter weather arrives, hire a roofing contractor to install snow guards on your roof. These small devices serve as barriers to prevent snow from sliding off the roof and falling to the ground below where it could injure a visitor to your property and leave you embroiled in legal action. The snow guards will hold the snow on the roof, where the heat of the sun will melt it into harmless water that will flow into your gutters and drain away from the building, leaving no risk of danger to people.

Block Off Access To Certain Areas

Perhaps you haven't installed snow guards on your roof, or you're particularly concerned about their ability to contain the snow after a recent dump. This can leave the snow hanging off the edge of your roof in a precarious manner. In such a scenario, it's important to block off access to the area below. Use rope, yellow tape, or a similar material to set up a perimeter that will prevent people from walking through the hazardous area. If snow were to fall, it would tumble harmlessly to the ground, away from your visitors.

Post Warning Signs

Making the visitors to your property aware of the risk that falling snow poses also shows that you're being proactive about keeping them safe. Even with other security measures in place, it's negligent to be worried about falling snow and not have signs posted around the area to make people aware of this risk. Talk to an attorney to determine the right wording for your signs. Often, something such as "Risk of Falling Snow — Use This Sidewalk at Your Own Risk" can be effective to help you to avoid legal action. For more information, contact personal injury lawyers like Caldwell Kennedy & Porter.

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