Who is on the hook when it snows at 4 in the morning?

Questions I would ask

• Who decides a storm has started, and who gets the call?
• Is the contractor clearing what you think they are clearing, and at what trigger?
• Do you have enough salt and working equipment, and how would you know?
• If someone slipped in your lot last Tuesday, could you show what was done that morning?

I have overseen the snow and ice program for a large site. Where would I look first at yours? Not the plow. The 4 a.m. phone call: does someone own it? The walkway: is it on anyone's list? The log: is it filled in that morning, or on Friday from memory?

What should the record look like for your site and your insurer? Ask your insurer and your lawyer. I build the plan so you can hand them something real.

What you get

• Who does what, and who decides: named people and a named backup.
• When: what triggers each step, and who gets called.
• With what: the equipment and supplies, where they are and when to reorder.
• The record: a simple log, filled in as it happens, that proves what was done.

How it ends: Your team runs the plan and keeps the log. You keep it for next winter.