Winter Safety & Compliance Assessments

Winter Safety & Compliance Assessments

When working with OUTCO, you can be sure that we are a safety-first business partner. OUTCO’s health and safety management system is ISO 45001:2018, 14001:2015 and 9001:2015 certified.

Winter gritting health and safety

Our winter gritting site survey and compliance assessment process both use industry best-practice risk assessments to identify potential health and safety hazards, assessing risk likelihood and the associated severity.  

• Suitable mitigation measures are identified and captured and used to create the method statements for all areas of work we carry out. 

• Method statements include details on how to prepare for a task, and the safe systems of work that must be followed when carrying out that task, including how to use personal protection equipment (PPE), signage, equipment (including chemicals) and machinery. 

• All OUTCO staff receive pre-contract induction and on-going training, such as tool-box talks, on working safely and in accordance with our method statements. Staff are not allowed to work on sites until their line manager has confirmed that they have both received and understood their health and safety training. 

• Training is delivered in-house and via specialist training providers. In addition to task–specific training, our operators receive training on best practice safe working including fire safety, manual handling, slips and trips, lone working, vehicle safety, reporting near misses, incidents and accidents. 

• OUTCO operates a robust supervision and inspection program, combining planned and ad-hoc monitoring of operators and records. This ensures our health and safety policy, processes and safe systems of work are being correctly followed at all times and makes sure that we follow winter compliance best practices. 

• Our inspection measures include assessment of the quality and safety of service delivery through planned monthly and ad-hoc site inspections carried out by the regional manager. 

• All our winter machinery is meticulously serviced during off-season months to prepare for the season ahead. 

By observing the step-by-step delivery of works, OUTCO can assess compliance with the risk assessments and method statements and identify and rectify any skills or training gaps or non-conformance. 

Winter gritting health and safety responsibilities

If you run a business or are responsible for employees, customers or visitors to a place of work, then you personally have a duty of care to keep sites safe. 

Even if no injury has occurred, under the new stricter enforcement of Health & Safety Executive (HSE) regulations, management is held directly responsible when it comes to health and safety, with a new trend towards large personal fines.