Winter is coming…are you prepared? With temperatures dipping and winter storms on the horizon, the potential for significant property damage, business interruption (BI) and threats to personnel safety is on the rise. Protect your facilities and employees through proactive winterization techniques to minimize your risk potential attributed to severe winter weather.

Winter weather exposures fall into four primary categories:

• Extreme cold
• Heavy snow
• Freezing rain/sleet
• High winds

The three major goals of winterization steps are to:

• Winterize equipment that will be exposed to freezing temperatures
• Ensure adequate heat where winterization is not practical
• Protect structures and utility services

Equipment Winterization
Equipment that will be exposed to freezing temperatures and cannot be moved to a heated area must be adequately prepared for winter weather. While most production equipment is designed for outdoor conditions, manufacturers recommend specific steps be taken prior to the onset of cold weather to ensure safe and optimal operation.

• Some equipment is shut-down for the winter and should be drained of water and prepared for the cold or idle period as per the manufacturer’s recommendations.
• Control valves should be locked or sealed in the shut position.
• Dry pipe and pre-action sprinkler systems require special maintenance to prepare for winter weather.
• Annual trip tests should occur in the spring to ensure maximum drainage of condensate.
• The low point drains of these systems should be drained in the fall, usually at the time of the monthly system inspection.
• In addition, heat for riser rooms, or heat tracing and insulation of wet piping, should be tested, and the concentration for antifreeze systems should be tested in the fall.
• All valve pits should be pumped dry, and ensure that the locations of roadway valves are clearly marked or otherwise identified so they can be quickly found under ice and slush that may accumulate on the road.

Adequate Heat
All heating equipment should be tested for proper operation, including combustion safety controls, in the early fall, including portable and supplemental heating equipment used in extreme events. Construction areas where the building envelope is incomplete or lacking insulation often need supplemental heat, and so appropriate action should be taken. Review the protocols for using this equipment each fall (e.g. is a hot work permit needed?), and caution employees against using unauthorized heaters. Only listed temporary heaters with tip-over and other safety interlocks should be authorized. Check areas remodelled in the last nine months for adequate heat, including new drop ceilings.

Test the fire water suction tank heating system and heat for the fire pump room, including diesel block heater, in the fall. In addition, check heat and/or heat tracing in all dry pipe sprinkler rise/valve rooms.

Structures & Services
Building structures are subject to overloading with heavy snow and freezing rain, and because of this, roof-related preparations are especially important. Ensure that all roof drains are cleared of fall leaves so melting snow will not be trapped on the roof. Make sure access to the roof for roof snow-clearing activities is available and safe and check the flashing on all roofs in the fall; flashing is critical for preventing roof covering peel-back in high winds.

Utility and power-related concerns should also be considered prior to the onset of winter weather. Freezing rain and sleet can accumulate on power lines and tall structures, and when coupled with high winds, fire line failure and structural collapse of towers and utility poles can occur and impact your operations. To mitigate these effects, it is recommended to review and update power outage protocols so that procedures and processes are understood. Standby generators should be tested and winterized as appropriate. Check the securement/anchorage of roof-mounted equipment, such as antennas, satellite dishes and cooling towers. In addition, check project areas to ensure new excavations or depressions have not reduced the ground cover over water piping to dangerous levels.