Extreme Weather: Safe Systems of Work
Our five Safe Systems of Work cover heavy rain and flooding, thunder and lightning, snow and ice, high winds and extreme heat.
And thorough this distemperature we see / The seasons alter
— A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act 2 Scene 1
As noted by several scientific bodies, we are already beginning to see the effects of Climate Change in our weather patterns. For example, Summer 2021 saw the first ever Amber warning for extreme heat being issued and, this winter, the UK was battered by three named storms (Dudley, Eunice and Franklin) in a single week.
Whatever the weather, we have to keep our services running safely, whether that be opening our historic houses, tending to our gardens or looking after the animals at Mary Arden’s Farm. As such, we have developed Safe Systems of Work to protect our staff, volunteers and visitors from extreme weather events.
Our five Safe Systems of Work cover heavy rain and flooding, thunder and lightning, snow and ice, high winds and extreme heat. We are also having to consider more widely how more extreme weather patterns are going to affect our buildings and sites. How are we going to ensure our historic buildings are resilient enough to cope with such extremes? How is it going to affect the planting in our gardens and the animals that we care for? This is an ongoing piece of work and we will keep you up to date with our efforts.