Industry leaders give back

As we speak with snow professionals across North America, SIMA and Snow Business have always been inspired not only by their business acumen, but also the quality of their character. We believe that the true value of a snow & ice professional includes serving the communities in which he or she operates or volunteering for causes that are close to their heart. 

Every year, the magazine features a special section highlighting three snow & ice professionals who take community involvement and volunteering to the next level. SIMA and Snow Business are proud to share the 2015-16 Community Service Initiative participants – watch a video interview with each company below, and click each of the titles to read their full stories in the digital issue. 

Special thanks to BOSS Snowplow for their continued sponsorship of the Community Service Initiative!

B&B Group: A mission to serve

Precision Snow Removal: Giving back is a priority

W.L. French: 40 years and counting

Action Alert: Help SIMA continue best practices development

'The Think Tank brought up many great ideas about standards that are needed in the industry. We’d like to build on the energy from the event, and launch one of those ideas sooner rather than later.'

Take action now on best practices development:

• Fill out this form to become a stakeholder reviewer for Best Practices in Snow Procurement.
• Email Brian@sima.org any thoughts on industry standards and best practices.
• Sign up here to be one of the first to receive the final draft of the procurement guide.

By Brian Birch
On September 1-2, leading stakeholders in the snow and ice industry met in Washington, DC, for SIMA’s Think Tank strategy discussion. Snow and ice management professionals, property and facility managers, insurance representatives, and others worked together to discuss priority issues and proposed solutions for these issues. During this meeting, it became clear that SIMA and the snow and industry need to continue to lead the development of best practices and standards. 

SIMA is excited to have already launched the Best Practices Guidelines and the Snow & Ice Management Glossary of Terms, and the Think Tank brought up many great ideas about other standards that are needed in the industry. We’d like to build on the energy from the event, and launch one of those ideas sooner rather than later.

We are in the process of finalizing a rough draft visual timeline of procuring snow and ice services. This document is designed to provide a visual timeline of best practices for contractors and buyers of service, so that the procurement process works with the mobilization needs of the contractor to ensure buyers are getting the best providers submitting RFPs in a timely fashion.

To make this procurement guide as comprehensive as possible, we are looking for a body of stakeholders to review this document and give us any insight or feedback. We hope that as an industry professional, you will consider helping us keep the momentum flowing and agree to spend approximately 1 hour of your time reviewing the document and providing suggestions. 

From those reviews, we will create the first official Best Practices in Procuring Snow Services document, which we can build on over time.

Are you in? If so, please take a few minutes to review and fill out this online form and agree to the stakeholder requirements. You will then be contacted by SIMA with more information on the review process. 

Snow Safety Week 2015 Review

Last week, SIMA, Plowsite.com, and sponsors BOSS Snowplow and Progressive Insurance produced a third Snow Safety Week. With a webinar on field training in snow and ice, articles, videos and discussion topics, Snow Safety Week was successful in providing quality, helpful information on a variety of safety-related topics.

As we move into the winter season, safety information is timely and very important for all snow professionals to remember. View some of the highlights from Snow Safety Week below:

• OSHA Audits: 5 things you need to know – In some circumstances, instances of accidents can trigger an OSHA safety audit. Review tips on audits as well as how to be prepared in the event of one.
• Helping families of employees make it through the winter – The toll of winter services takes its toll not only on the contractors in the field but also on their families. Read tips on how to make the snow season easier for families.
• Recognizing the signs of a heart attack – Train your snow & ice team to know symptoms and warning signs of a heart attack and what to do if anyone experiences heart attack symptoms.
• CPR basic training for operations staff – Every snow and ice management company’s safety plan should include first aid and CPR training. View resources and ways to train your employees on CPR.
• Identifying onsite health risks – Snow and ice management professionals focus clearly on ensuring safe sites for their clients, but companies mustn’t neglect the safety of their employees working in tough conditions. Read to help keep your team safe onsite.
• Recognizing the signs of depression and anxiety – The stressful nature of work in snow and ice can lead to many health issues. Learn to recognize the signs of depression and anxiety and how to manage them.
• Creating a Safety Team for your snow company – Learn how to build a team of people who can champion safety and help other employees with reminders and incentives to follow your company’s safety training program.
• Video: performing a tool box talk/circle check – View a demonstration on how to perform a pre-trip safety inspection on a truck and plow, including checking the plow, lights, tires, signs of damage, and more.
• Safely dumping snow accumulation from the top of a parking deck – Dumping snow from parking structures requires a tight choreography of operations to ensure the safety not only of those dumping, but those on the ground and in other areas of the garages. View suggestions on how to accomplish this safely.

Visit here to see all the articles from last week, and thank you to everyone who participated and helped create another successful Snow Safety Week!