Please use a safe, sustainable product for this purpose, rather than rock salt or urea-derived products, which can be corrosive and cause harm to surrounding ecosystems, people and pets. Safecote is more than 90% pure Sodium Chloride (salt) with the remaining insolubles consisting mainly of Keuper Marl which helps to protect the salt quality. If you have a comment or query about benefits, you will need to contact the government department or agency which handles that benefit. EcoGrit is an environmentally conscious company that would like to serve the people by offering them education, insight, “peace of mind” and the chance to make a positive difference on a monumental scale at a time when winter weather patterns are becoming more unpredictable.

Difficulties can arise when rain is forecast to continue right up to the time of freezing or when the rain is forecast to turn to snow. Tarmac should be laid on a dry day when temperatures are warm but not too hot so that it settles and hardens properly.Gritting should be carried out when frost, ice or snow is forecast or when walkways are likely to be damp or wet and the floor temperatures are at, or below freezing. You can increase the efficacy of EcoGrit by shovelling away any excess snow before applying the product, as well as keeping an eye on the weather forecast to apply it before snowfall or frosty night to address problems before they arrive. The side effects of using salt to clear driveways were, and still are, however, less than desirable.

Cleveland Potash, in Middlesbrough, produces salt as a by-product of its main operations and usually produces about 3,200 tonnes per day. Drive, steer and accelerate as smoothly and calmly as possible and keep a close eye on the traffic around you and any road signs warning of trouble ahead. It should especially be avoided in areas such as children’s playgrounds or schools, where there are a lot more people moving about and a higher percentage of children, who can suffer more aggressive side effects and ingest or absorb greater quantities of rock salt, due to their propensity to touch more surfaces while they are playing and exploring outside. There is no case law we aware of where this has been proven to be a good strategy and our advice would always be – it’s a potential risk and therefore needs managing in a way that is reasonable and sustainable for the employer and targets where employees and 3 rd parties will be at risk.Leave plenty of space between you and the car in front – braking distances can increase by up to ten times during snowy conditions. The actual freezing point of a saline solution depends on the salinity (strength) of the saline solution. For your experience this site is best viewed in Internet Explorer 11 or higher, Mozilla Firefox 27 or higher, Safari 7 or higher, Chrome 30 or higher, Opera 12 or higher or equivalent browser software. Check the box above and we'll sign you up to receive our Health and Safety Newsletters, as well as sending you a link to our 'Grit and Salting during the winter' summary. There are some products such as ‘Icemelt’ which claim to work better directly on ice already formed.

Most of our approved suppliers deliver to the UK mainland only; however, a small number of our approved suppliers are able to deliver to offshore addresses within the UK. This is because when grit isn’t ground down by tyres and feet, it becomes ‘hygroscopic,’ and actually attracts more water! Each year, approximately 1,000 people in the UK are killed or seriously injured on icy or snow covered roads. The grit doesn't directly melt snow as it firstly has to mix with the snow to form a saline solution and lower the melting point.

If you sprinkle salt on an exterior surface before the frost and snow come, this can help prevent ice from freezing and causing problems for vehicles and people alike. However, if you take extra care and leave yourself plenty of time to react to the surrounding traffic, then it is certainly doable.

When outside temperatures are below zero, there is no risk to public health by rubbish being left out for a short while longer than normal. It is also recommended to re-grit the surface in the evening, not only in advance of peak traffic flows as staff and visitors leave for the day, but also to prevent the ice from re-freezing as evening temperatures fall. The good news is that there is a safer, pet-friendly snow-melt alternative out there that does an excellent job without harming the people, pets or the surrounding environment. Councils sometimes have to contend with ‘freezing rain' – supercooled rain which falls when the surface temperature is below zero, freezing on impact – which means they may need to re-grit areas.

Last year virtually all councils were able to continue rubbish collections as normal and of the few that couldn't, arrangements were made to collect at the earliest opportunity. If, however, you need faster results, use a specially formulated snow and ice melt or grit to remove the ice and add some traction to the surface. It can help stop parked cars slipping on a slope when applied around the tyres and can clear mirrors and windscreens fast to ensure that you have as full a view as possible while out on the road to keep you safe. Back to the question of melting snow and ice on the driveway, however, and this is a crucial job to do in winter for many reasons. Don’t drive too close to the car in front of you, brake gently and always carry a container of EcoGrit with you on journeys in case you get into trouble away from home.