Winter Driving and Snowplow Safety: Getting Your Alberta Crew Winter-Ready

October is the month to get your crew winter-ready. Refresh winter driving training, stock every vehicle with a winter kit, teach the signs of cold stress, and review how your people work around snowplows and traffic. Under the Alberta OHS Code, cold and working alone are hazards the employer must assess and control.

Short answer: get your crew winter-ready before the first real snowfall. That means refreshing winter driving training, putting a winter kit in every vehicle, teaching workers the signs of cold stress, and reviewing how they drive and work around snowplows and live traffic. Under the Alberta OHS Code, the employer must assess hazards before work begins. Cold, winter roads and working alone all belong in that assessment.

In most of Alberta, October is the last easy month to do this. The roads are still mostly dry, crews are still busy but not buried, and you can fix gaps before they turn into incidents. This guide walks through what to cover, and which courses help.

Key facts for a winter-ready crew

• The Alberta OHS Code requires employers to assess a work site and identify existing and potential hazards before work begins. Winter conditions change that assessment.
• The OHS Code does not set a specific cold temperature limit. Cold is managed through the hazard assessment and the controls you put in place.
• Working alone is a hazard under the OHS Code when help is not readily available. The employer must provide an effective way to communicate, with regular contact at intervals that suit the hazard.
• Since September 2023, drivers must move over or slow to 60 km/h (or the posted limit, if lower) when passing a stopped maintenance vehicle, including a snowplow, with flashing lights. The fine is $243 and 3 demerits.
• Alberta snowplow operators let traffic pass every 5 to 8 km, or when it is safe.
• Commercial drivers should refresh defensive driving before winter. For Class 1 drivers, PDIC Class 1 is Alberta-approved.

What are the biggest winter driving hazards in Alberta?

Winter changes almost everything about driving. The hazards your crew will meet most often are:

• Longer stopping distances on snow, ice and packed snow.
• Black ice on bridges, overpasses and shaded stretches, often when the road looks only wet.
• Poor visibility from blowing snow, fog, short daylight and snow clouds behind plows and trucks.
• Skids and jackknifes, especially when braking or steering hard on a slippery surface.
• Rural highways with long distances between towns and patchy cell coverage.
• Fatigue from long, dark drives and the extra concentration winter demands.
• Cold starts, frozen air lines and iced-up lights, mirrors and windows.

Most winter collisions come down to speed for the conditions and following distance. Training helps, but so does a clear company rule: drivers are expected to slow down, and to stop and wait when conditions are too bad, without pressure from dispatch or a supervisor.

How do I prepare drivers for winter?

1. Refresh winter driving training every fall, for every worker who drives for work.
2. Check tires. Winter tires or tires rated for snow make a real difference in stopping and traction.
3. Stock a winter kit in every vehicle and check it monthly.
4. Set a trip-planning rule: check road reports and the forecast, and tell someone the route and the expected arrival time.
5. Put a journey management or check-in plan in place for long or remote drives.
6. Make it clear that drivers can delay or cancel a trip for weather.
7. Review fatigue: winter drives take longer, so plan shifts with that in mind.

• Defensive Driving: Extreme Winter Driving with Skid Control/Recovery
• Winter Driving Fundamentals
• Defensive Driving
• Fatigue Management - Supervisors and Drivers

What should be in a vehicle winter kit?

A winter kit keeps a stranded worker safe and warm until help arrives. Build one for every work vehicle, and adjust it for how remote the work is. A good kit includes:

• A shovel, and sand, salt or traction mats.
• An ice scraper and snow brush.
• Booster cables.
• A flashlight or headlamp with spare batteries.
• Warm blankets or a sleeping bag, plus extra warm clothing, hat, mittens and dry socks.
• Non-perishable food and water.
• Candles in a deep can and matches or a lighter, for warmth and light.
• Warning lights, road flares or reflective triangles.
• A phone charger or power bank, and a way to call for help where cell coverage is poor.
• Windshield washer fluid rated for winter.

What are the signs of cold stress?

Cold stress happens when the body loses heat faster than it can make it. Wind, wet clothing and long exposure make it worse. Workers most at risk are those who work outside, drive in remote areas, or work in unheated buildings, yards and loading docks.

Hypothermia

Hypothermia is a drop in core body temperature. Early signs include shivering, tiredness, and clumsy hands. As it gets worse, a person may become confused, slur their words, stop shivering and seem drowsy. A worker with hypothermia often doesn't recognize it in themselves, which is why the buddy system matters.

Frostbite

Frostbite is freezing of the skin and the tissue under it. It most often affects fingers, toes, ears, noses and cheeks. Signs include numbness, tingling or stinging, and skin that looks white, greyish-yellow or waxy.

If you see these signs, get the worker out of the cold and somewhere warm and dry, and get medical help for anything beyond mild symptoms. Your emergency response plan should spell out who does what, and how to get help at each work location.

Controls for cold work

• A heated shelter or vehicle for warm-up breaks, with breaks scheduled more often as the temperature and wind chill drop.
• Layered clothing, windproof outer layers, and dry spare gloves and socks.
• Rotating tasks so no one stays in the coldest job all shift.
• Warm, sweet drinks and regular meals.
• Pairing workers so they can watch each other for signs of cold stress.
• Rescheduling non-urgent outdoor work in extreme cold.

• Cold Stress
• Working Alone

How should drivers share the road with snowplows?

Snowplows work in the worst conditions, often in poor visibility, and they throw a cloud of snow behind them. Alberta's advice is simple: give them space. If you follow too close, you could be driving blind in the snow cloud. Don't pass when the view along the side of the plow is blocked, when passing would get in the way of the plow's work, or when it can't be done safely. Operators will let traffic pass every 5 to 8 km, or when it is safe.

Snowplow operators also get the same roadside protection as first responders. Since September 2023, when you pass a stopped maintenance vehicle, police, ambulance, fire truck or tow truck with its lights flashing, you must move over to the far lane or slow to 60 km/h, or the posted limit if it is lower, in the lane next to it. The fine is $243 and 3 demerits, plus a speeding fine.

What about crews that plow or work beside traffic?

Some of our clients run their own snow removal: plowing yards, lease roads, parking lots and site access roads. Others have crews working on or beside a road in winter. For these crews, the traffic is the biggest hazard. Build these points into your hazard assessment and procedures:

• Make sure plow operators are trained, competent and authorized on the specific equipment. Plow trucks, loaders and skid steers are powered mobile equipment under the OHS Code.
• Do a pre-use inspection every shift, including lights, beacons, mirrors, blade and hydraulics.
• Plan routes so plows push with traffic flow where possible, and avoid backing into areas people use.
• Keep pedestrians and ground workers out of the plow's path, and use spotters when backing where you can't see.
• Wear high-visibility clothing that is still visible over winter layers.
• Plan for poor visibility at dawn, dusk and in blowing snow. Slow down, and stop work when you can't see.
• For work on a public road, use proper traffic control and follow the road authority's requirements.

Winter also makes fatigue worse. Snow events mean long shifts, often overnight. Plan rest the same way you would for any shift work, and don't let a storm become a reason to skip it.

What are the employer's duties for working alone in the cold?

Under Part 28 of the Alberta OHS Code, working alone applies when a worker is alone at a work site and help is not readily available if there is an emergency, an injury or an illness. Working alone is treated as a hazard, so it must be part of the hazard assessment.

The employer must provide an effective communication system: radio, landline or cell phone, or another effective electronic means. It must include regular contact by the employer or a designate, at intervals that suit the hazard. Where electronic communication is not practicable, the employer or designate must visit the worker, or the worker must contact them, at suitable intervals.

Cold raises the stakes. A breakdown or a slip on ice is a nuisance in July. In January, a worker alone and without contact can be in serious trouble within hours. In winter, shorten check-in intervals, confirm cell coverage along the route, and have a clear plan for what happens when a check-in is missed.

Which training should commercial drivers take before winter?

Every worker who drives should refresh winter driving. Commercial drivers need more, because a loaded truck on ice behaves very differently from a pickup. Class 1 drivers should also have current defensive driving training. In Alberta, the Professional Driver Improvement Course (PDIC) Class 1 is the approved option. It covers driving conditions, vehicle control, air brakes and more, and a pass can take up to three demerit points off an Alberta licence once every two years.

• PDIC Class 1 (Alberta)
• Defensive Driving - Large Vehicles
• Daily Trip Inspection Training
• Guide: Alberta trucking compliance training

A simple October checklist

1. Update your hazard assessments for winter conditions, cold and working alone.
2. Assign winter driving training to every worker who drives.
3. Assign PDIC Class 1 or large-vehicle defensive driving to commercial drivers who are due.
4. Check tires and stock a winter kit in every vehicle.
5. Review your working alone check-in plan and intervals for winter.
6. Teach the signs of cold stress, and set up warm-up breaks and shelters.
7. Brief crews on moving over for plows and roadside workers, and on safe plow operation.
8. File every certificate so your records are ready for a COR audit.