Everyone whose workplace is subject to the whims of mother nature knows that you can’t change the weather. However, you can adopt administrative principles that help plan and predict what’s likely to happen when stormy weather intrudes on core operations.

Schedule Around Weather

One of the first and most fundamental ways to plan for weather is to look regularly at the weather forecast and have backup activities planned for when certain kinds of uptime aren’t possible. For a warehouse or light industrial operation with indoor and outdoor work areas, it’s important to schedule the outdoor productivity for sunny times, and be able to move operations indoors when weather requires it. This simple rule can ensure much better seasonal success as storm clouds threaten.

Safe Materials

Another problem that catches managers and leaders off guard is when unplanned storms or bad weather have a negative effect on materials and supplies that may be stored out in the elements.

This is another type of case where an ounce of planning is better than a pound of cure. In some cases, materials have to be stored outside, but having coverings available and ready to put in place can make a big difference. In other situations, managers who are looking at the weather forecast and avoid laying out large amounts of materials and supplies just before a potential storm. This can prevent lost time as well as damage to tools or equipment.

Personal Protective Equipment

This area of weather management dovetails with general safety standards for a workplace.

The idea of personal protective equipment is that workers have what they need to handle the particular demands of a work environment. For instance, most companies wouldn’t send welders into a workshop area without appropriate visors, heavy gloves, and other appropriate gear. The same should be true for working out in bad weather.

Having items like raincoats, hoods and rain gloves makes a difference, and the quality of the equipment also makes a difference. Having heavier grades of PPE on-site can help with productivity and also promote better safety. You might have less of a chance of a slip and fall accident, and also better accommodate workers who have to keep a grip on work equipment or supplies in rainy weather.

Facilities Management

Another component of weather management has to do with buildings.

Having door mats and other entrance amenities in a building helps in multiple ways. It helps with workers getting precipitation off of them before they come inside. That helps with the problem of tracked-in water and dirt that can have a negative effect on the cleanliness of the property.

Weather can have big effects on a workspace. Think ahead and be prepared, in order to help your front line workers do their jobs “through hail, sleet, and freezing rain.”

Talk to Full Steam Staffing about solutions for workplace staffing issues in and around the Ontario, California area. We help our clients to succeed in every season, and in all kinds of weather.