Contracting your professional snow and ice removal to experts is a step in the right direction in preventing accidents…and litigation.
At Mirage Landscaping of Calgary, we are snow removal professionals. We have been in business for over three generations now, and have both seen and heard just about everything to do with winter hazards that commercial property owners sometimes don’t think about.
Aside from snow removal, some of the other winter hazards that could occur on your property could cause you serious problems.
Look to the Skies
The state of the snow on your roof or the winter state of your gutters could be the source of major premises liability for injuries to your customers, suppliers, or occasional visitors such as meter readers and mail carriers.
A well-insulated building will not permit a snow load on its roof to melt from passive radiant heat. If your roof has an incline of any note, it can act just like a mountain slope for the development of avalanche conditions. If we have a winter that deposits a sizable snow load upon your roof, we will do our best to assist in mitigating against a door slamming, or wind, or a little thawing, breaking off a slab of semi-solidified snow and dumping it on to some unsuspecting soul.
Another overhead area of concern are your gutters. Get your gutters cleared of leaves before the snow flies to reduce the chances of an accident. Gutters that don’t drain correctly can quickly become a serious injury hazard to anyone who comes near them.
With the Chinook winds we tend to get, melt water trapped by leaves can eventually build a well-shaded ice dam in your gutters. Even the colder parts of Calgary winters are punctuated by plenty of sunshine. You could grow dangerous icicles, and your gutters could locally tear away from their mountings over time because of expanding ice. Most likely though, over-spilling gutters will wreck any efforts made to manage sidewalk ice.
If you have overflowing gutters dripping fresh melt water all over the concrete, that ice will be back within hours creating fresh slip and fall hazards.
Thinking of Others
By planning of your snow removal services from Mirage Landscaping of Calgary, you are not only keeping your customers’ safety at top of mind, but also your employees. To absolutely minimize your legal exposure to slip and fall accidents, consider the service workers who also visit your site. If your gas, electric, or water meters, mailboxes, garbage/recycling are located away from the main areas that you regularly have plowed or shovelled, you may want get the snow removal and ice mitigation of these areas addressed in your service contract. Injuries incurred by meter readers, delivery people, and others are covered under the Alberta Workers Compensation Board’s laws.
The WCB allows injured workers who are not your employees to sue for negligence under what is called “third party liability.” In short, if it can be alleged that you allowed unreasonably dangerous accident conditions to form and persist on your property.
Professional Snow Removal is Just the Start
The good news is that when you contract with Mirage Landscaping of Calgary, you’ll get a second set of eyes on these winter safety issues. If your lighting seems inadequate, we’ll give you a heads up. If your lot drainage seems weak, we’ll inform you.
