How to Build a Resilient Safety Culture this Winter

Winter’s harsh conditions can expose weak spots in workplace safety programs, making it the perfect time for employers to test their safety culture’s resilience and strengthen protocols before accidents happen.

• By Gen Handley
• Oct 15, 2025

Are you a little tired of hearing about “safety culture?” It is supposed to be a top priority for employers and yet there is no crystal-clear description or design of how to build it. The general definition of safety culture is that it is the shared values, practices, and behaviors of an organization, influencing how they work and behave at their job to keep themselves and others safe. This is quite a broad explanation that can entail different safety practices and behaviors across different teams and leadership styles. However, during the winter, when occupational risks are particularly higher, it is a good time to test the organization’s safety culture to see how resilient it is or if it passes the “Winter Stress Test.”

Winter Stress Test

The poor and extreme winter conditions can show how a resilient safety culture prevents cracks in a program or policy from becoming major occupational crises and failures. It tests specific aspects of the program like when:

• Protocols are followed under pressure and in freezing conditions
• Safety equipment, PPE, and technology tested and trustworthy; devices are “cold-proofed” workers know how to use them even with gloves on.
• Employee communication remains consistent and dependable. Internal communication does not fall apart when storms disrupt schedules or extreme weather hits.
• Leadership prioritizes safety. Supervisors and managers check in more frequently, reinforce PPE use, and demonstrate consistent safety practices at work.

Why winter demands safety resilience

The difficult and potentially dangerous conditions that winter creates for employers in the Northern Hemisphere fosters resilience in the organization’s safety culture because it is forced to adapt and maintain safety under pressure. For example, common, plausible scenarios that can escalate into serious incidents include a home healthcare worker slipping on icy steps during a visit, a utility worker stranded in a snowstorm, or communication blackouts leaving lone workers disconnected during severe weather.

The winter-ready pillars of a resilient safety culture

Even though every organization’s safety culture may look different on the outside, every successful culture has six underlying pillars that support its various components.

• Leadership visibility and engagement

Every solid safety culture has leadership who actively check in on vulnerable employees like lone and at-risk workers. Management also demonstrates to workers that their safety is a priority through discussion of workplace concerns and hazards, as well as providing resources such as safety monitoring technologies and emergencies kits.

• Empowering employees to speak up

A safe workplace must encourage their employees to report workplace hazards and concerns (which are also valid). This includes the provision of accessible, anonymous channels and platforms to report safety hazards where the employee can do so without any consequences.

• Clear and open internal communication

Open, internal communication amongst employees is also crucial for a strong safety culture. When employees provide multiple means to privately communicate between vulnerable workers (mobile apps, satellite devices, and backup plans if service fails), it improves their security as well as their overall engagement and connection with their surroundings – such as real-time alerts for road closures and severe weather warnings.

• Seasonal training and education

A strong organizational safety culture provides seasonal and regular opportunities for OHS training to its employees. This includes winter driving and slip-trip-fall prevention training which can be very effective in fall prevention strategies. It also entails providing education and resources that provide team members with the knowledge they need to perform their jobs safely during specific times of the year or in particular circumstances.

• Safety technology and automation

Every healthy culture invests in current tools and technologies to help build this winter resilience and maintain communication and crucial safety protocols such as required check-ins to confirm workers are safe – automation can significantly improve safety protocols for employees like water workers and increasingly accurate GPS tracking technology can monitor workers in locations where cell signal is not available.

• Ongoing adaptability and updates

Finally, every thriving safety culture has a solid foundation of flexibility and is easily able to adapt to new safety hazards, challenges, and changes like new employees. Following the winter months, conduct thorough post-winter reviews for future improvements to current safety protocols and tools.

Practical winter safety culture steps

There is no definitive guide to building a winter safety culture and each one will be different in its own way. Here are some feasible safety strategies and steps that any organization can use to help build or bolster cultures protecting their workers.

• Issue “Winter Safety Packs” (ice grips, flashlights, reflective gear).
• Adjust check-in schedules for shorter daylight hours.
• Create “snow day” protocols: when workers should not attempt visits or remote fieldwork.
• Encourage buddy systems for higher-risk visits during extreme weather.

Common winter safety culture mistakes

Additionally, there are a number of common occupational winter safety mistakes that contribute to many worker injuries – many mistakes that are preventable when addressed and planned ahead of time.

Overconfidence

After many winter seasons and comfortably working with snow, it is easy to become overconfident and even recklessness during bad winter weather. This can result in mistakes and ill preparation.

Complacency

Like overconfidence, complacency creeps in after many seasons of zero accidents and working around these conditions. Employees begin to stop using protocols and safety devices, resulting in lapses in judgement.

Technology gaps

While this is an increasingly technology-dependent world, there are many teams relying on manual protocols like checking in with their manager through phone calls and texts – manual protocols prone to human error which automation and technology is not.

Building resilience beyond the season

By addressing these mistakes and beginning to examine your safety program for the winter season now, you are proactively building a resilient culture that not only helps protect the team but creates lasting trust amongst the people and company.  The Winter Stress Test and the harsh conditions of the time of year can demonstrate how strong and capable a company’s safety protocols and culture really are.

This article originally appeared in the October 2025 issue of Occupational Health & Safety.