3 Simple Ways To Reduce Potential Liability When Snow Plowing

Snow plowing is generally a nightmare. It’s cold, it’s risky, and it’s often backbreaking. That’s exactly why people outsource it. To you!

From your point of view, snow plowing is business, and therefore welcome. However, the adverse work conditions associated with it leave your team open to injury and equipment open to damage. This automatically increases your liability – or, in layman’s terms, could receive monetary claims around injuries and damage to people and property.

Liability issues with snow plowing include sprains (or even strains) of workers’ backs and shoulders, cuts, and even finger amputations. The strain of the work, amidst adverse conditions, could even cause heart attacks. Depending on the extent of a claim, it could severely damage your profitability if you haven’t actively reduced your liability.

That’s why you must implement focused measures to reduce potential risk and liability in plowing snow before winter descends — and throughout the season. This way, you protect your bottomline, your employees, and your assets. There are three main ways to do this – risk transfer, employee training, and thorough documentation.

Here are some detailed instructions on how to get started on each of these three important measures.

I) Risk Transfer

Having the proper contracts and insurance policies in place helps to protect your business by minimizing liability issues with snow plowing. Here are two easy-to-execute methods of risk transfer:

Client Contracts

A snow plowing or snow removal contract helps you establish the terms and conditions for services, agreed upon by both the contractor and client, in writing. It helps reduce potential liability in snow plowing by giving you grounds to negate wrongful accusations and complaints while keeping your business running efficiently.

Well-written snow plowing contracts include:

• A detailed description of the work to be provided
• When services are carried out (i.e., how much snowfall must occur before plowing)
• Payment structure and timelines
• Performance guarantees
• Any relevant insurance carried by the company.
• Depending upon the client, the contract can also include details regarding sanding or salting and snow removal from the premises.
• Indemnity clauses. These protect you from being held responsible for slip and fall accidents due to client/homeowner negligence.

It’s recommended to avoid contracts that pass 100 percent of the liability to the contractor if an accident occurs.

Insurance Policies

Your standard insurance carrier doesn’t always offer specific insurance policies covering snow plowing activities (like property damage and personal injury). This is because they might be wary of the history of claims and costly litigation. Even if you do manage to get an offer from a standard carrier, you may question whether the expense is worth the given coverage and benefits.

Here’s how you can reduce potential liability in snow plowing with some smart moves around insurance:

• To minimize your risk, cover all operating snow-plowing vehicles with commercial automobile coverage through your insurer. A commercial policy is more in-depth than a standard business auto policy. It provides basic accident insurance for driving but will also cover bodily injury of the driver and damage to lawns, mailboxes, or fences that occur when plowing.
• Keep copies of proof of insurance in all vehicles at all times.

II) Employee Training

Making sure you and your employees are adequately trained is another excellent way to liability issues risks with snow plowing. Use this employee training checklist to cover all bases:

ASCA Certification

ASCA’s  Snow & Ice Management Certification is created to help contractors provide exceptional services to their clients while deterring legal claims. This annual certification consists of ten ASCA-approved online educational classes. After each session is completed, a test is issued and must be passed with a score of at least 80% to receive credit.

Equipment Training

All operators need to be trained on snow plowing basics to complete work effectively and efficiently, without damaging the plow or the vehicle. Instructions should include the following:

• Plow and truck operation
  • Only shift gears when the vehicle has come to a complete stop
  • Do not plow in overdrive
  • Reverse as little as possible
  • Remember the truck is not a front-end loader
• Proper plowing techniques and etiquette
  • Don’t push too much snow at once
  • Start with main areas first, working towards less critical spaces
  • Don’t pile snow in front of entrances, steps, dumpsters, fire hydrants, etc.
  • Work with shovelers, not against them
  • Do not plow vehicles in whenever possible
  • Do not push snow into or across adjacent streets

Safety Training

Basic safety training is critical if you want to reduce potential liability in snow plowing. Operators should be instructed on:

• Inspecting the vehicle and plow before starting work
• Staying updated on the weather forecast
• Developing a good sense of when conditions are too dangerous to continue working
• Keeping appropriate cold-weather gear and clothing in their truck
• Handling equipment breakdowns safely
• Handling accident claims from customers firmly and respectfully
• Proper first aid and safety measures

III) Documentation of Services

Train your employees to maintain detailed records of every job performed and all services provided on that job – make it compulsory, and part of standard procedure. You must be firm about this and find ways to encourage your team to ensure that records are maintained. In the event of a client complaint, these service logs can be referenced and, if need be, used as evidence. This is a tried, tested, low-cost and fool-proof method for minimizing liability issues in snow plowing.

Records should be kept on hand for at least four years and filed in a system that makes it easy to access logs if necessary. Here’s a handy checklist of everything that needs to go into your service records:

Service Logs

At a minimum, service logs should include:

• Driver’s full legal name
• Client’s name and address
• Date and time of services rendered
• Associated weather conditions
• Description of all work completed, including the type and rate of de-icing material application (if applicable)
• Notes regarding any problems experienced during plowing

Photos of Completed Work

After each job is completed, your employees must take photos of the finished work. This is no challenge today because everyone carries a smartphone around – make it clear that you’re not looking for professional photos, just clear photos that capture all the evidence around work completed.

Pro tips to make documentation a breeze: 

1. Try Snow and Ice Business Documentation Software: These tools help you to organize and centralize documentation of all aspects of your business: client contracts, service logs, invoicing, and even employee payroll.
2. Install GPS trackers in plow trucks: Snow plow trackers can generate reports on vehicle history location, proving work was completed. They also protect you, as a business owner, from employees falsifying time cards.

Summing up

The three easiest ways to minimize potential liability in snow plowing are:

• Risk transfer, using client contracts and commercial automobile insurance
• Employee training, by associations like ACSA and also basic safety training and guidelines
• Thorough documentation, using service logs and photographic evidence

Don’t wait for a massive claim to come along and dent your earnings for the season – contact NIP to get reliable commercial insurance through SitePro. Capitalize on 30 years legacy of protecting businesses.