As we head deeper into fall, the kaleidoscope of autumnal color will soon give way to blankets of white. And for many of us in Canada and the northern part of the United States, that late fall time will usually mean winter driving. In some part of this continent, snowy and icy road conditions are already an issue, and we’re just in the first week of November!

Yep, Father Winter apparently does not have the same calendar you and I have – the one that says winter doesn’t actually happen until mid-December. But hey, why should calendar technicalities get in a the way of a good blizzard?

[Photo by access.denied on Flickr via a Creative Commons license]As winter approaches, roads get more treacherous and scenes like this happen more frequently. Before the nasty weather hits, though, you as a safety officer have a duty to run through your winter-driving cycle with your drivers – whether they drive a company fleet car or their own personal vehicle for work reasons.

But for those of you safety officers for companies that either have a fleet of work vehicles or workers who use personal vehicles for work-related driving, this is the time to go through the winter safety instruction or training cycle. In case you don’t know, the winter driving season does have three cycles in terms of safety for all workers who drive – there is the period before winter when the company and workers prepare for the winter; the winter season itself, when policies and protocols are implemented; and the time after winter driving season, when safety personnel regroup and assess the season, find gaps or weak spots in the protocols and make determinations for possible changes in time for the next preparation period.

Before Winter: Prepare

As many of us in Canada are in or are about to enter winter driving season, the suggestions that are made here might have to be addressed in a very short window. However, you should try very hard not to drop any of these recommendations due to time; you just might have to prioritize the tasks in a different order. Of course if you are in the southern U.S., the deserts or in Mexico, you likely still have plenty of time if you start this week.

One of the most important things you can do to get ready for winter is to do “winterizing” maintenance on your fleet and get winter tires installed if they have not been already. This must not be limited to just your company fleet; make sure that your workers who use their personal vehicles for work purposes also get their winter maintenance performed before the first snowfall if at all possible. You will also want to evaluate and possibly update your policies and protocols and hold a meeting with workers to remind them of the policies about winter driving and the best practices to ensure safe travels.

As safety officer, if will be your obligation to find the hazards and risks and to install some practical alternatives for drivers in case road or weather conditions become too treacherous. There is always more than one way to get to a destination, and you should always have  those alternate routes available for any and all drivers who travel to that destination. Each alternate route should take into account the condition of the road, whether it’s a main thoroughfare or a more rural or residential street, among other factors. It would never be a good idea to have an alternate route be more dangerous than the first option.

During Winter: Implement

Now that you have your preparations in order, the next thing to address is to actually embrace the winter driving season upon its arrival and implement all the policies and procedures that you went over with your workers and supervisors. Once the winter has started, priorities now fall on keeping vehicles maintained properly and consistently working with your drivers on routes and driving conditions, and have regular de-briefing with drivers upon their return from a trip to discuss any safety issues or feedback on procedures that should be addressed. At times, when you go through these briefing sessions, meet with your drivers and communicate feedback and perhaps supplement your safety program with additional training as necessary. And as always, be ready to adjust procedures as needed, record those incidents when they happen, but also be aggressive in noting safety achievements such as every trip that is completed safely.

After Winter: Assess

Once the lakes and rivers thaw out and the first birds of spring come out one morning, that will be the signal that all this winter driving treachery is coming to an end. And if you are a detailed, organized safety officer (which I know you are!), this would be the perfect time to review the winter season while it is fresh in your mind and in the minds of your drivers.

During this time, you could go over your incident records and trip logs of your drivers to look at where there were consistent hazards or risks. Using some of this information, you could more accurately determine policies that worked well or need improvement, conceive some new alternate routes, review the training plan for issues that need special attention, make sure to schedule after-winter maintenance checks for the fleet and make initial budgets and plans for the next winter season.

Winter can be a very frightful time on the roads but with safety officers always on guard, the winter months can be quite delightful for all stakeholders – and that is the mission, after all, isn’t it?