Are the other remote sites totally unmanned? I.e. an employee will never be there? Depends if you are looking from a criminal or civil (or both) point of view. I can almost guarentee that if you have snow / ice formation on the site (that you would know about due to weather forecasting and as a reactive resort, your CCTV) and continue to allow customers onto the site and you do nothing to treat the area, and someone slips, you won't be able to defend a claim. The reasonableness test has been shown to not be satisfied by citing "mother nature" and some degree of snow / ice clearing and gritting should be adopted, as a result of a risk assessment and documented policy on this.

The employer should be reasonably satisfied that the area is not prone to icing, i.e. the drainage is well-maintained, with no signficant standing water. CCTV might serve to keep an eye on that, but some routine maintenance might be advisable. The employer could also consider maintaining a grit box on the premises, particularly where there are slopes, stairs, ramps etc.

The customers are any person who has rented the garage style units, of which there are several across the concrete yard area. Thank you for the input, i will get back to the company with this information to see if communication with these customers is a viable option, in extreme cases. Could it been seen as an adequate control (defence in the case of a civil claim) to give detail of the potential for icy conditions and provide grit / salt and expect the customers to use it.

Surely we can assume that a person who has the wit to rent a storage unit, will also have the wit to determine when ground conditions are risky due to snow or ice. He/she will have ample time to ponder this as they drive/walk to these units. How are you going to enforce any kind of shutdown, other than a security gate at the entrance, and then you may be accused of preventing access to their property? I would consider the provision of a grit box for your customers to use is a reasonable solution, whether they choose to use it or not. I would not consider it reasonable to have someone visit the site each day to lay grit down for a situation that may not be utilised at all. There are many storage units located on remote farm sites, with the customer being free to come and go as they choose, including severe weather conditions should they so choose. I have no knowledge of any such user attempting to sue the landlord/farmer should a slipping injury occur.

These are all very valid points and i think the provision of a grit box and detail of these provisions given to the customers should provide adequate controls firstly to maintain the safety of the customers and also satisfy the company's duty of care. Thank you all again for your help, and this forum is something that i will definately use again in the future.

What do you call (Define) remote?