Snow Be Gone

Is the snow gone yet? It is April in Wisconsin. So, the answer to that question is: “kinda, but not really, you never know.”

It’s a weird month in our state. One day it’s 77 degrees and the next it’s 29. One day the wind is from the south at 17 mph and by the evening it’s shifted around to the NNE at 21 mph. You never know what you’re going to get.

At H&S, we’ve had enough of the snow but realize this can also be a perilous time of year for businesses, particularly in their parking lots. Unforeseen ice causes falls. Drivers think the lots are dry and perhaps overnight they’ve frozen again, and someone not thinking skids and hits another car or a pedestrian.

Those are potentially dangerous situations. Security cameras covering your parking lot are a good idea. The tendency can be to neglect safety issues this time of year, but the April time-period in Wisconsin is one where you should stay extra vigilant for that very reason – people relax, thinking winter, along with some of its hazards, is over.

Security cameras are important to cover your outside premises – sidewalks, parking lot, front entrance areas. At the same time, H&S encourages you to take safety precautions: continue clearing your sidewalks and parking lot of ice and snow. Remind employees to be careful.

H&S is there to help you with advice on the best ways to protect your business, your people and your assets at any time of year. We’ve had a lot of Wisconsin winters to learn and prepare. Give us a ring at 715.344.0727 in central Wisconsin or 262.574.7777 in southeast Wisconsin.

“Can-Do” Attitude Works Well for Kat Lindow at H&S

Kat Lindow has a “can-do” attitude that fits perfectly with H&S Protection. Before joining our team, she had been introduced to the H&S way of doing business when we came into service the cameras systems at her previous place of employment.

“I knew that they were friendly people dedicated to doing their job well. After my last employer ended their contracts in Portage County, I was looking for positions, and the one for H&S wouldn’t stop popping up, so I figured I should apply,” she said.

Previous to joining H&S, Kat spent three years working for Advanced Disposal and Waste Management as a scale operator and office administrator. “That allowed me to gain account payables experience. Prior to that, I spent five years in the legal field, first in Superior, Wisconsin, then in Stevens Point working for various law firms and the court house,” she added.

Officially Kat’s title is Administrative Assistant. That has her primarily handling Account Payables, making sure Fire Inspection Paperwork gets where it needs to be and checking the reports first thing in the morning to make the H&S team aware of any high-priority problems.

In her spare time, Kat plays piano for her church a few times a month. She also enjoys long bike rides (anywhere between 5-20 miles) because “I can do this either by myself or with my family. I also recently started doing taekwondo, and while my progress is slow, I keep my broken boards in my office to remind me that I can do tough things on hard days. My husband Gus and I also love vacationing back in Superior/Duluth and camping with our kids and dogs.”

“The people here genuinely care about the customers, and not in a ‘get good customer service scores’ kind of way. Everyone genuinely wants all customers to feel safe, and to feel cared for. You can see this at our weekly meetings, where if one property is having some issues, the entire team immediately jumps into troubleshoot and offer ideas,” Kat observed.

“I can truly say I have never worked in a place like this before. The owner and management are concerned about the wellbeing of both customers and employees, and have an attitude of ‘what do you need to succeed?’ We have a variety of personalities across the departments, and there really is never the ‘not my job’ attitude with other employees — we all are able to ask for help when we need it and not be afraid of someone being irritated, and we all provide help when we can’,” she concluded.