There are basically five types of deicers:

• Calcium chloride (CaCl2) is available in flake, pellet, or liquid form and often outperforms other deicing products especially at lower temperatures. It produces an exothermic reaction, giving off heat as it melts. Calcium chloride also has a greater capacity to attract and retain moisture directly from its surroundings, which enables it to dissolve faster and start the melting process.
  
• Sodium chloride (NaCl) also known as rock salt was first used as a deicer in the 1940's. It is an effective deicer for areas that receive road traffic. It draws heat from the environment rather than releasing it and it loses most of its deicing effectiveness when temperatures are below 25 degrees F. Heat generated by the friction of moving traffic on busy roadways assists rock salt's effectiveness.
  
• Potassium chloride (KCl) is a naturally-occurring material that is also used as a fertilizer (muriate of potash) and a food salt substitute. Because of its high salt index and the potential to burn foliage and inhibit rooting, its use is relatively limited.
  
• Urea (NH2CO NH2) is synthesized from ammonia and carbon dioxide. It is primarily used as a fertilizer. As a deicer, it has a lower burn potential than potassium chloride.
  
• Calcium magnesium acetate (CMA) is a relatively new salt-free melting agent made from dolomitic limestone and acetic acid. It causes little damage to concrete or plants and is used as an alternative to salts in environmentally sensitive areas.

Remember to always follow label directions when using a deicing product. However, any deicer that is mixed with equal parts of sand can help reduce the use of the deicer and provide grit for added traction.

You can reduce the amount of sand tracked into the building by choosing deep tray-type doormats with stiff bristles guests can use to "clean" their shoes and boots before entering. Another removable mat placed in the reception area can help protect permanent surfaces beneath them.

An alternative to deicers is heated walkways. While there are a number of ways to accomplish this, the common method is for a facility to embed flexible pipes that carry hot water within the sidewalk concrete pads. The water gives up its heat to the concrete and prevents snow and ice from accumulating.  Of course, the installation of this type of system is a major undertaking and best suited in warmer weather when repair and/or replacement of walking surfaces are scheduled.

Your plan should identify all of the walkways at your facility that need to be maintained.  Of course, first consideration for keeping paths safe and open needs to be given to emergency access and egress areas.  While it is important to make sure the public can gain safe access to your emergency department, you must also keep egress paths clear, fire hydrants usable, and other emergency support systems, such as fire department sprinkler connections, accessible.

No matter how well you maintain your walkways, you

still run a high risk of someone falling and placing a claim against your facility.  Your best defense to this type of claim is to make frequent tours of your walking surfaces to evaluate their conditions.  Obviously, if any of the areas are found to have potentially hazardous conditions, then action must be taken to immediately correct conditions.  All safety tours of these surfaces should be documented, even if conditions are good, to demonstrate the facility’s effort at maintaining safe walking surfaces. For a sample form to document these tours, click here.

Many facilities rely on third-parties to clear their parking lots and sidewalks.  The mere fact that someone else is providing this service for you does not exempt you from liability.  Therefore, in addition to following all of the guidelines listed above, you also need to make sure you have a current contract in place which explicitly details performance expectations.  In addition, you need to conduct a thorough reference check, as well as verifying your provider has adequate and current insurance coverage in place.

While winter weather certainly poses a challenge to maintaining a safe environment, implementing the strategies suggested above should go a long way to reducing the risk of slips, trips, and falls at your facility.