Footpaths and roads can be really hazardous in the winter months, preventing customers, clients and tenants from safely and effectively arriving at their destinations. Protech’s winter gritting services are the solution to your winter problems.
It has never been as vital to make sure your footpaths, car parks and access roads are safe when temperatures fall to freezing or below or when we get snowfall.
Snow and ice can cause massive disruption to any site, and with the huge potential for financial loss and injury to staff or visitors it is essential that it is managed and controlled.
Get rid of the headache this winter by letting Protech Property Solutions deal with and reduce that risk for you with their gritting and snow clearance services.
Protech can offer you:
- High tech Met Office forecasting;
- Gritting & Snow Clearance throughout London & the Home Counties;
- Pay per treatment with all costs agreed in advance;
- No tie in or retainers;
- Overnight visits to minimise disruption;
- Satellite tracked gritting vehicles;
- Cover can be given 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks of the year;
- £10 million public liability insurance;
Range of gritting service options
Protech Property Solutions offer three gritting service options:
Proactive gritting service – The customer agrees a set temperature at which gritting should occur. Protech would be responsible for monitoring the weather reports, and when the set temperature is forecasted would automatically grit the site. The customer gains peace of mind knowing that their site will automatically be gritted without having to activate our service.
Pay as you go gritting service – The customer analyses the temperature reports and makes the decision when to request for their site to be gritted. Some customers prefer this option as they feel it gives them more flexibility to choose when gritting is required. We always recommend that gritting should be carried out when the expected road surface temperature (RST) will be 0 degrees centigrade.
Reactive gritting service – This is when we have gritted your site once and then later your site freezes again and you require an additional gritting. The additional gritting can happen within 24 hours of the previous gritting. Depending on your location we aim to be at your site within three hours from the time of the call.
Types of Salt and De-icers
Protech Property Solutions are happy to advise on what type of salt will be best suited to your gritting needs.
Brown de-icing salt – brown grit or rock salt is usually used for highways including public pathways. Traditional rock salt is mined from the ground so is a finite resource.
White de-icing salt – this is becoming a preferred choice as marine salt is purer than traditional rock salt and carries less moisture so has a faster reaction than standard salt. Marine salt leaves less residual and unlike rock salt stops any reddish-brown colour being walked into buildings and carpets. Importantly marine salt is a renewable resource so it is better for the environment.
High performance de-icers – these work at low temperatures and can be in granular or liquid form, and generally cause less corrosion.
Liquid de-icer – is a fast-acting de-icer which is effective at low temperatures. Liquid de-icers are used at airports and railways when they need to guarantee paths etc are kept clear of ice. Organisations may want to use a liquid de-icer on non-slip metal staircases (fire exits) or pathways.
Salt Bins
Customers often want to have an onsite supply of salt and we can provide salt bins (sometimes called grit bins) and salt. We can regularly check the level of the salt to ensure you have a sufficient stock during the cold weather.
How Gritting Works:
Salt plays a major role in melting snow and ice on roads and paths. It also helps prevent the formation of the bond between the road and the snow or ice, so that roads and paths can be cleared more quickly and easily.
When temperatures drop gritting or salt spreading becomes crucial in keeping roads and paths clear and people safe.
The bottom line is that salt lowers the freezing point of water. This is how it helps keep roads clear and safer for driving so that things keep moving despite the freezing conditions.
Salt is spread on the snow or ice covered road. Using gritting machines as the salt comes into contact with the snow or ice, melting begins and water is produced. This water containing dissolved salt known as “brine”. Brine freezes at lower temperatures than water, so it remains a liquid at below freezing. The brine works its way further into the snow and ice and eventually down to the surface of the path or road. From here, brine can spread out under the ice, removing the bond between the road surface and the ice.
The remaining snow and ice floats on top of the brine, allowing the movement of traffic to break it down further and into slush. There are many variables in the effectiveness of salt including temperature, time, and the application rate.
Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974
Employers have to ensure their employees and anyone else who could be affected by their work (such as visitors, members of the public, patients etc), are kept safe from harm and that their health is not affected. This means slip and trips risks must be controlled to ensure people do not slip, trip and fall. People must be able to move around safely.
Slips and trips are responsible for:
- Over a third of all reported major injuries;
- 20% of over-3-day injuries to employees;
- 2 fatalities per year;
- 50% of all reported accidents to members of the public that happen in workplaces;
- Cost to employers £512 million per year (lost production and other costs);
- Cost to health service £133 million per year;
- Incalculable human cost;
- More major injuries in manufacturing and in the service sectors than any other cause.
For more information on our Winter Gritting Services please call one of our friendly team on 0845 604 1288. Please visit Protech Garden Services for other external environmental services.
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