Winter is both a beautiful and dangerous time of year, so you need to look not only under your feet, where ice is lurking, but also up, where icicles are lurking. Hanging from the roofs of houses, balconies, trees and pipes, "ice beauties" can instantly turn into "ice hazards.".
Dear fellow countrymen!
Every year in Ukraine, there are recorded cases of icicles falling on people, resulting in death or injuries. Unfortunately, such cases occur where the owners of buildings and structures do not monitor the condition of their roofs and do not clean the eaves of frozen ice and snow in a timely manner.
Most often, icicles form above gutters, and these are the places on the facades of houses that are especially dangerous. In addition, pay attention to the freezing of sidewalks. Usually a thicker layer of ice forms under the icicles. Even if there is no fence, you should be careful and, if possible, do not go close to the walls of houses.
Safety rules when passing roofs (eaves) with icicles:
- Before walking under the eaves of a building with icicles, look carefully at the condition of the frost.
- When driving along houses, keep a safe distance from the walls (no closer than 3-4 meters).
- Do not stand under the eaves of houses on which icicles have formed.
- Do not park your cars too close to houses.
- If you need to pass under an icy cornice of a building, try to overcome this area as quickly as possible.
- When walking outdoors with small children on sleds or in strollers, do not leave them unattended and do not stay with them in areas where blocks of ice, snow, or icicles may fall from roofs.
- If you hear a suspicious noise above you while walking on the sidewalk, do not stop and do not raise your head to see what happened, because you may lose time. It may be the falling snow or ice. You should press against the wall as quickly as possible, the «visor» of the building’s roof will serve as shelter.
To avoid becoming a victim of ice icicles that can fall on a pedestrian with the onset of unstable temperatures, you must:
− To heads of enterprises, institutions and organizations, directors of schools and kindergartens:
- warn the relevant services about the need to promptly eliminate the danger of ice icicles falling on pedestrians and the possible consequences of such emergencies;
- install warning signs and fences in dangerous places where icicles may fall;
- if possible, knock down dangerous icicles in a timely manner;
Remember that your safety depends primarily on yourself.