Rain, snow and risk: how to manage working in bad weather

Key takeaways:

• Duty of care is key: You’ve got a legal duty to provide a safe environment, so if the weather makes a task dangerous, it’s time to hit pause.
• No legal “too cold” cutoff: There’s no law for a temperature that means everyone goes home automatically, but the HSE recommends keeping indoor spaces at a reasonable temperature and a minimum of 16ºC, or 13ºC if employees are doing physical work.  
• Closed doors mean full pay: If you make the executive call to shut the business for the day, you usually still have to pay staff who were ready to work.
• Get it in writing: A clear adverse weather policy cuts out the early-morning chaos and lets everyone know exactly where they stand.

 

While most people see a flurry of snowflakes and think of hot chocolate and a day at home, as a business owner, you’re usually thinking about how the team’s going to get in and if the site’s even safe to open.

Whether it’s heavy snow, torrential rain, or freezing temperatures, bad weather can bring your operations to a halt and leave you with a mountain of HR and Health & Safety questions.

We’ll cover everything from the legalities of working in the rain to pay rights during site closures, and how to build a rock-solid adverse weather policy so you aren’t caught out in the cold.

Contents:

• What are the laws on working in bad weather?
• Working in cold conditions: Health & Safety rules
• What are the risks of working in bad weather?
• Practical tips for working in cold conditions
• At what temperature can you go home from work?
• Dealing with travel and childcare disruptions
• Employee rights during temporary business closures in the UK
• Why you need a bad weather policy for employees

What are the laws on working in bad weather?

First things first, let’s take a look at the law. In the UK, there isn’t one single “bad weather law” that tells you when to shut up shop. Instead, it all falls under your general duty of care as an employer.

Under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, you have a legal duty to provide a safe working environment for your team “so far as is reasonably practicable”. This means you need to weigh up the level of risk against the cost, time, and effort needed to control it. If the risk is high (like working on a roof in a gale), the “practicable” thing to do is usually to stop work.

While the 1974 Act is the big one, there are two other frameworks you should have on your radar:

• The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 — This legally requires you to carry out risk assessments to make sure your work environment is safe at all times. When the weather changes, your assessment needs to change to identify any additional risks.
• The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 — This regulation specifically states that indoor workplace temperatures should be “reasonable” during working hours. See more on this below.

Working in the rain UK laws

You might be surprised to learn there’s no legal limit on how much rain is ‘too much’ to keep work going. However, that doesn’t mean it’s a free-for-all. If your team’s working outside, you’ll need to provide suitable PPE and, more importantly, a place for them to dry out and warm up.

Rain also brings a massive spike in one of the most common workplace hazards: slips.

According to the HSE, slips, trips, and falls account for around 30% of all non-fatal workplace injuries. When the ground is wet or icy, that risk skyrockets, so make sure you keep walkways clear and well-maintained, and encourage staff to wear footwear with proper tread.

Working in cold conditions: Health & Safety rules

When it comes to the cold, the law focuses on “thermal comfort”. This means you’ll need to make sure the temperature is reasonable for the type of work being done. Ideally, you want a minimum indoor temperature of 16°C, or 13°C for more physical tasks, such as manual handling.

If your team is struggling to keep warm, it’s not just a comfort issue — it’s a safety one. Cold hands can lead to fumbled tools, increasing the likelihood of accidents, while “cold stress” (when the body can’t maintain its normal core temperature) can cause symptoms like fatigue and reduced decision-making.

Before the cold weather kicks in, it’s a good idea to revisit your heating setup for indoor work and carry out a risk assessment to identify any potential issues. Working outdoors calls for additional action, such as warm PPE. If you aren’t sure where to start, here’s our guide on how to carry out a risk assessment so you can spot those weather-related hazards.

What are the risks of working in bad weather?

The cold can be a big challenge for the human body. When you’re working outside in the wind and rain, it’s not just about feeling miserable — there are real occupational hazards you need to look out for. Here are some of the major risks to know about:

Cold stress

This is the big one. Cold stress happens when the body can’t maintain its normal temperature, and can lead to several serious symptoms, including:

• Hypothermia — This is a medical emergency that kicks in when your internal temperature drops below 35°C. Keep an eye out for shivering, confusion, and slurred speech.
• Frostbite — This happens when the skin actually freezes, usually hitting the extremities like the fingers, toes, and nose first. If someone’s skin looks white or grey and feels numb or hard, they need to get out of the cold and seek medical help.

Slips, trips, and falls

Slips are another major concern when temperatures drop. 30% of work-related non-fatal injuries reported by employers in the UK are due to slips, trips, and falls, so it’s important to be aware of the increased risk in the winter months.

If an accident does happen, make sure you follow the right accident reporting procedures to keep your records straight and your team protected.

Reduced coordination and fatigue

Being cold is exhausting. Your body burns through energy just trying to stay warm, which means your team will tire out much faster than usual.

Fatigue leads to mistakes, and when you combine that with “fumble fingers” from cold-numbed hands, the risk of accidents with tools or machinery goes up significantly. There’s also a greater risk of gloves being drawn into machines, so you need to take extra measures to keep workers safe.

Other cold-weather conditions

Extreme reactions like hypothermia are important to look out for, but don’t forget conditions like Chilblains (itchy, red swellings on the skin) and Trench Foot (caused by feet being wet and cold for too long) that can be painful and keep your staff off work for days.

Providing the right footwear and access to dry socks (or somewhere to dry them) is essential to keeping your workforce happy and healthy.

For more advice, download our free guide to reducing the impact of extreme weather here.

“When temperatures drop, it’s easy to focus only on the obvious hazards like icy patches on the ground. But the hidden effects of cold stress and winter fatigue are what often catch teams off guard. When your body is working overtime just to stay warm, physical stamina drops and reaction times slow right down. Pair that physical exhaustion with numb fingers, and concentration slips, and it’s exactly when we see a sharp spike in completely avoidable machinery and tool accidents.

Waiting for an incident to happen before you take action is a risky strategy that can cost you time, money, and team morale. Instead, you need to proactively monitor the real-feel conditions and wind chill, step in early, and make sure your team takes regular warming breaks in a dry area to keep their focus sharp.” – Michell Taylor, Health, Safety & Fire Service Director, Citation

Practical tips for working in cold conditions

Unfortunately, as much as we might like to, none of us can control the weather. This means there will inevitably be times when your employees have to work in the cold. 

To keep your team safe in cold conditions, you can’t just hand out a few extra pairs of gloves or turn on the heating for an hour.  You need a proactive approach to reduce the risk of knock-on effects.

Here are some simple tips that can make a big difference:

• Monitor conditions and temperatures — Don’t just guess how cold it is. Use thermometers and, more importantly, check the wind chill factor. A temperature of 2°C can feel like -5°C if there’s a biting wind, and that’s when the risk of hypothermia or frostbite starts to creep in.
• Take regular breaks — When it’s freezing, your body uses a lot of energy just to stay warm. Give your team more frequent breaks in a heated, dry area to help them recover.
• Make sure nobody works alone — Working in cold conditions can be dangerous, and the signs of health concerns like hypothermia or cold stress can set in quickly. Keep your staff working in groups of at least two so that they can keep an eye on each other.
• Reduce trip and slip hazards — Cold weather comes with an increased risk of slipping on ice and wet surfaces. Take preventative measures, like gritting surfaces and putting down non-slip mats, to keep your staff safe.
• Use PPE — The best way to stay warm isn’t one big, heavy coat; it’s layers and the right equipment. Encourage your team to wear moisture-wicking base-layer thermals, fleeces, insulated jackets, hats, gloves, and waterproof outerwear.

Cold weather safety for construction workers

While safety is important in every business, for certain industries where working outdoors is more common — like construction sites — it’s even more vital to make sure your team is protected from bad weather.

Severe weather continues to be one of the top causes of project delays and lost productivity in the UK construction sector, with 92% of site managers saying that changing weather conditions have caused significant disruption.

To help you manage the unique challenges of a construction site, here are some essential safety tips:

• Assess the situation — First things first; before you take any action, you need to review the risk assessment to see which tasks are safe enough to proceed with.
• Clear the way — Make sure you grit all major walkways and access points before anyone arrives. Pay extra attention to scaffolding planks and ladders, which can become surprisingly slippery. However, only internal construction and fit-out works should be done in particularly bad weather conditions, while avoiding any work at height or scaffold work.
• Inspect the gear — Cold weather can make hydraulic fluids thicker and batteries less reliable. Check all machinery and vehicles before use to make sure they’re working as they should, and avoid using them if in doubt.
• Watch the wind — High winds are a big hazard for crane operations and scaffolding. Have clear “stop-work” triggers that activate when wind speeds get too high, like a flag being raised or an alert on work systems, and make sure everyone knows them.
• Use dry storage — Provide a designated area for staff to store and dry their wet-weather gear. Wearing damp clothes into the next shift is a one-way ticket to illness and low morale.
• Check your tools — Metal tools get cold to the touch during the winter months. PPE, like thermal-lined gloves, are a great option that offers enough grip and dexterity to work safely. However, you must review your risk assessment to be aware of tools that aren’t safe to operate with gloves.

For more specific advice, check out our guide to Health & Safety in construction.

At what temperature can you go home from work?

It’s the question that pops up in every office group chat the moment the heating starts to pack in: “If it gets too cold, can we all go home?”

There’s a common myth that, once it hits a certain degree, everyone’s legally allowed to pack up and go. But, in reality, it’s more nuanced. While there’s a recommended ‘comfortable’ temperature of 16°C, or 13°C for more physical tasks, for workplaces in the UK, it’s up to business owners to make sensible decisions.

If your workplace is consistently falling below the HSE’s recommended minimum temperatures, that doesn’t necessarily mean you should send everyone home. Instead, you should look at other solutions, like space heaters, relaxing the dress code to allow warmer clothes, or letting staff take more regular hot drink breaks.

Dealing with travel and childcare disruptions

When the snow builds up, or flood waters rise, your phone starts to ring as team members get stranded at home or turned around mid-way through their commute. Managing a team when the roads are blocked is a huge HR challenge.

Here’s a quick look at how to handle these disruptions:

Do you need to pay employees for travel disruptions?

If an employee’s unable to get to work due to weather, do you still have to pay them? Usually, the answer is no. If your workplace is still open and the employee can’t make it in, they aren’t entitled to be paid for that time.

Of course, being a supportive employer is key. Letting them work from home, swapping their shift with an employee who can get there, or offering the option to take the time as paid holiday so they aren’t out of pocket can all go a long way in keeping team morale high.

Winter driving, in particular, can be dangerous, so it’s generally recommended not to encourage staff to try to make it in through a snowstorm. For industries where travel may still be necessary, like care, you need a driving at work risk assessment, as well as extra controls — like working from home where possible. 

You might also hear the question: “Can I refuse to go to work because of bad weather?” Under the Employment Rights Act 1996, employees are protected if they refuse to work in conditions that they reasonably believe pose a “serious and imminent danger”. While a bit of sleet might not count, a red weather warning for a storm certainly could.

What if employees can’t come in due to childcare?

What happens when the roads are fine, but an employee still can’t make it into the office because their childcare has fallen through?

Let’s look at “Jane” as an example. Jane’s nursery has to close because a pipe burst in the cold, and they can’t keep children in a building with no heating. Because this is an unexpected disruption to her childcare, Jane is legally entitled to “Time Off for Dependants”.

This is an emergency leave to let the employee make alternative arrangements. It’s important to remember that this leave is usually unpaid (unless your contracts say otherwise) and is meant to cover the immediate emergency — usually a day or two — rather than the whole week.

You might choose to let the employee take these days unpaid, or make up time owed elsewhere to avoid a loss of pay. If you can be flexible here, it’ll go a long way in building trust. Find out more about the benefits of flexible working here.

Employee rights during temporary business closures in the UK

What happens if you decide it’s not safe to open the site or office?

If you make the call to close the business for the day, the rules on pay change. If your employees were “ready, willing, and able” to work, but you told them not to come in, you generally still have to pay them their full wages for that day.

The only way around this is if you have a specific “lay-off” or “short-time working” clause in your employment contracts. These clauses let you tell staff not to work for a short period without paying full wages (though they may be entitled to a small statutory guarantee payment).

Without this clause, closing the doors could get expensive very quickly.

Why you need a bad weather policy for employees

The best way to avoid an argument or miscommunication on a snowy Monday morning is to have a clear bad-weather policy for your employees.

A solid adverse weather policy should outline:

• How you’ll communicate — Will you send a WhatsApp, an email, or is there a phone tree?
• The “cutoff” time — By what time should staff be notified if the site is closing?
• Pay rules — Be crystal clear about what happens if they can’t get in versus what happens if you close the site.
• Alternative working — Can they work from a different site that’s closer to home? Or can they hop on their laptop from the sofa?

Having this in writing means everyone knows where they stand, and it makes you look like the organised, professional employer you are.

How Citation can help you manage weather disruption

Managing a business is hard enough without the weather throwing a spanner in the works. That’s why we’re here to manage the admin.

At Citation, we provide our clients with a 24/7 advice line, so if you’re staring at a snowdrift at 6am, wondering whether to open the site, you’ve got an expert to talk to. We also provide risk assessment templates to make sure you’re always on the right side of the law.

Ready to make sure your business is weatherproof? Contact us today.

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