Kevin McLaren has been in the snow and ice industry for 30 year and shares some tips about how to stay out of legal trouble.
December 27, 2021 | Emma Tyborski
Snow Plow News talked with Kevin McLaren from Green Earth, about what new contractors need to know staying out of legal trouble in the industry. McLaren has been in the snow industry for 30 years and has great advise from his years of service.
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McLaren advises contractors to keep imaculate records. Take photos of your job site before and after the job is done so they can be referneced at a later date if needed.
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McLaren recommends keeping all job sheets with information like, when you arrived at the job site and when you left. Also record details of what was done on the job site.
If you are a contractor just starting out, keeping these kinds of records does not require an elaborate software system, you can keep great records in emails or a simple spreadsheet. Once your snow business grows, you may want to upgrade to a system or software program.
Keeping detailed records will help to mitigate any risk you have if you find yourself being accused of someone being injured with slip and fall situation. Typically slip and falls have a legal limit of five years, so if you are sued in 4 years, 11 months and 29 days, they are hoping you don’t have records. In a case where you don’t have detailed records, they win, but if you do, you can defend yourself, so it’s extremely important to keep very good records.
Hopefully these tips help you to have a more successful business and snow season!