DECEMBER 20, 2024 – As families gather on cold snowy nights to play games or sit in front of those crackling fires to enjoy it’s warmth, remember to do it safely. Staying healthy and warm during winter can be a challenge if you are not prepared.
The best way to have a safe and tragedy-free winter season is to be proactive and incorporate risk management in every step you take. Some of the major areas to prepare for winter are your home, your vehicle, and yourself.
Your Home
You should schedule to have your furnaces, fireplaces and pellet stoves serviced before the weather gets bad. For those with chimneys and flutes, be sure to clean and clear them of debris before use, and furnaces should have their air filters replaced, vents and ducts cleaned, and exhaust flue inspected.
Additionally, while space heaters are portable, remember to ensure the heater has an auto shut-off in case it tips over, keep it out of reach from children, and allow a three-foot distance from anything flammable. Another good habit is to turn it off and unplug it before bed.
According to the National Fire Protection Association, heating equipment is one of the leading causes of home fire deaths. Fire departments responded to an average of 44,210 fires involving heating equipment per year from 2015-2020. More devastatingly, these fires resulted in an annual loss of 480 civilian deaths. So before getting out those space heaters, turning on your furnaces or lighting your hearths, check your smoke detectors, their batteries, and their age. If they are over ten years old, replace them.
While checking smoke detectors, be sure to install or check carbon monoxide detectors and their batteries too. Carbon monoxide is an invisible, odorless, and poisonous gas that kills without warning, which makes a functional carbon monoxide detector essential.
Your Vehicle
Your house is not the only place you need to prepare for winter. Have you serviced your vehicle? Checked your tires? Do you have an emergency car kit equipped with extra blankets, water and snacks? Before the weather catches you by surprise, get your vehicle(s) prepared as well.
In addition to annual maintenance on your vehicle, winterizing your vehicle includes testing your battery, checking your cooling system, adding winter tires with a deeper and flexible tread, checking tire pressure, ensure functioning windshield wipers, adding wiper fluid rated for -30 degrees Fahrenheit, and keeping your gas tank at least half full to avoid a gas line freeze.
Even with preparation, mishaps may still happen. In case of emergencies, your vehicle should be equipped with an emergency kit. Emergency car kits should include a first aid kit, cell phone charger, a properly inflated spare tire, wheel wrench and tripod jack, battery-powered or hand crank radio and a NOAA weather radio with tone alert, flashlights and extra batteries, and jumper cables. Also include extra water, blankets and snacks for everyone in the car including pets.
We cannot control when snow or freezing rain begins. However, we can prepare for risks we may face. Slow down when driving in winter weather that creates slick surfaces. If you find yourself stalled or stranded, stay in your vehicle and let your car be seen by tying a bright marker on the antenna or windows and keep the interior dome light on. Be mindful of carbon monoxide poisoning – make sure your exhaust pipe is clear of any snow and run your vehicle only long enough to warm up. Instead consider flying but get your tickets well in advance, arrive at the airport early and pack light.
Yourself
Finally, it is also important that you prepare your body for the many winter sports. Get in shape for the season, and not just the week before a ski trip. Beginners should invest in a training course, and even if you have skied for years, taking a refresher course won’t hurt you and may teach you something new. According to the National Safety Council in 2022, more than 66,000 injuries were attributed to skiing and snowboarding many of which were due to excess speed, loss of control and collisions with stationary objects.
Some other important tips to safely participating in winter sports: never ski or snowboard alone, never venture off the designated trails, wear the proper personal protective gear, dress in bright colors and layers, check the weather beforehand, use skis with brakes or a snowboard with a leash to prevent runaway equipment, and finally never ski or snowboard on closed runs or areas that are not monitored.
Over the past five years from December 1 to March 1, the Department of the Air Force has lost 35 Airmen, and Guardians to preventable off-duty accidents, 2023 alone had thirteen. One member lost to a preventable accident is one too many.
“No matter your activities this winter, remember to integrate risk management into all of them to reduce injuries or deaths,” said William “Bill” Walkowiak, chief of Occupational Safety, Air Force Safety Center. “The life you save could be your own or someone you love. Never leave home without knowing the risks involved and a way to combat those risks.”
Winter can be peaceful and exhilarating all at once, so keep risk management in the forefront all winter. Risks are in everything we do at home or at work, so make good risk-informed decisions and stay safe this winter.
To learn more specific winter safety information, visit https://www.safety.af.mil/Divisions/Occupational-Safety-Division/Winter-Safety/.
Story by Master Sgt. Lisa Gonzales
Air Force Safety Center