Community Risk Assessment

“A Morning Snow–Hudson River” 1910 George Wesley Bellows | Smithsonian American Art Museum

This time of year in the Northern Hemisphere we keep an eye on snow management  standards; among them titles developed by the Accredited Snow Contractors Association.  The barriers to entry into this domain are relatively low and, arguably undisciplined; hence the need for standards setting.  Even when only partially adopted, use of ANSI accredited standards reduces the “wheel reinvention” that is common to the business side of the education industry when new initiatives, or continuous improvement programs are undertaken without consideration of already existing leading practice discovery by ANSI-accredited technical committees.  Start here:

ASCA Standards Home Page

The parent title for the emergent ASCA bibliography is System Requirements for Snow and Ice Management Services; free to ASCA members.  The current version is dated 2014 and will likely be updated and/or re-affirmed.  The circumstances of the pandemic has slowed the work of many standards setting committees.  The safety and sustainability concepts remain intact, however.  Among them:

• If snow can be removed from a lot or hard surface and appropriate room exists, always push the snow as far back as possible beyond the curb or lot edge to make room for additional snow.
• If snow cannot be removed from a lot or hard surface, always place snow piles on a predetermined spot approved by the client and marked on the snow contractor’s preseason site report.  
• Do not pile snow in a handicap parking space.
• Do not bury or plow snow onto a fire hydrant, post indicator valve, or fire hookup along the building wall.
• Avoid placement of snow piles where thaw/melt off can run across the parking lot surface. Try to place piles near drain grates to avoid icy situations during thaw-and-refreeze periods.
• Do not push snow against a building.
• Do not block building doorways or emergency exits.
• Do not block pedestrian walks or paths with snow piles.
• Do not push snow onto motor vehicles.
• Do not plow snow in front of or bury trash containers. Sidewalk labor must shovel inside trash container enclosure for access to the doors. If the container is not in an enclosure, create a clear path to the access doors or panels.

ASCA has more recently released another title — Standard Practice for Procuring and Planning Snow & Ice Management Services — that seems (by its title alone) to be a companion consensus product.  From its prospectus:

This standard of practice covers essential procuring and planning for snow and ice management services. Standards for procuring and planning are essential for business continuity and to improve safety for patrons, tenants, employees, and others in the general public. Knowing how to describe service requirements in a snow and ice management request for proposal (RFP) is an important component to providing effective services, particularly where winter weather is a variable. This standard practice provides guidance on the snow and ice management procurement and planning process to aid in the creation of RFPs, contracts, agreements, and monitoring procedures. This standard will not be submitted for consideration as an ISO, IEC, or ISO/IEC JTC-1 standard.

Apart from these titles, we do not see any recent happening in the ASCA standards setting enterprise.  We will pass information along as it becomes available.  Alternatively, you may communicate directly with ASCA, 5811 Canal Road  Valley View, OH 44125, Ph: (800) 456-0707.  Most education communities employ a combination of permanent and contract staff for these services.

We maintain the ASCA bibliography on our Snow & Ice colloquia  See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting; open to everyone.

Issue: [13-104]

Category:  Grounds and Landscaping, Exterior, Public Safety, Risk Management

Colleagues: John Lawter, Richard Robben

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ARCHIVE / Snow & Ice