Winter Maintenance Risk Management Plan
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Winter salting practices at your business may require you to complete a Risk Management Plan, required by the Grand River Source Protection Plan.
Free property review
For a limited time, the Region of Waterloo is offering free consultations to properties requiring a Risk Management Plan. The 60-minute consultation occurs on your property at a time convenient to you. A Region of Waterloo representative will walk the property with you to identify actions to reduce salt use while maintaining winter safety.
Benefits of booking your free consultation
- Receive help completing your Risk Management Plan worksheet
- Identify problem areas where ice forms in the winter
- Learn about solutions to manage potential slip and fall hazards
- Receive free winter maintenance resources
Risk Management Plans
The requirement to negotiate a Risk Management Plan comes from the Grand River Source Protection Plan (2022) and Clean Water Act (2006). If you received a letter, it is because your property is near a municipal drinking water well with increasing chloride trends.
We contacted you because we need to negotiate a Risk Management Plan, or because this property previously had a Risk Management Plan which is now expired. Even if you hire a winter maintenance contractor, or only use a small amount of salt, you are still responsible for completing the Risk Management Plan process.
I received a letter about a free winter maintenance consultation
The Region of Waterloo offers consultations to help begin the process of negotiating a Risk Management Plan. During the consultation, a Region of Waterloo representative will meet with you to walk through a Risk Management Plan worksheet. Together, you will identify actions which can reduce salt use while maintaining safety onsite. You can also complete a worksheet on your own with support from Region of Waterloo staff.
I received a letter about an expired Risk Management Plan
In the past, the Region of Waterloo worked with a property representative (owner, manager, tenant, etc.) to negotiate a winter maintenance Risk Management Plan. That Plan was valid for five years and must now be renewed. Renegotiating the Risk Management Plan provides an opportunity to evaluate how well the measures are working and make any needed changes.
If you have never heard of this requirement before, the Region will help you negotiate a new Risk Management Plan based off your practices.
Free resources
We have free resources to support your winter maintenance plan including:
- Health and safety materials
- Sign for closed areas
- Sample templates and forms
- Webinar recordings and videos
- Fact sheets and articles
