Slips and Trips

One slip or trip accident occurs every three minutes and it is costing British industry millions of pounds a year in lost production and compensation claims.

Slips & trips are the most common cause of major injuries at work and occur in almost all workplaces. 95% of major slips result in fractured bones and they can also be the initial causes for a range of other accident types such as falls from height.

They are often seen as a joke however, in reality, slips and trips costs to industry are substantial at £512 million per year, not counting the incalculable human cost and suffering to those injured.

Legal actions brought as a result of an injury can be extremely damaging to businesses, especially where customers are involved. Insurance covers only a small proportion of the costs. Statistically slips and trips account for 33% of all reported major injuries, 20% of over-3-day injuries to employees, 2 fatalities per year, 50% of all reported accidents involve members of the public and a cost to the health service of approximately £133 million per year.

What can be done to prevent slips and trips?

All employers have a duty under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 to assess risks (including slips and trips) and to take action to control these risks.

As the vast majority of slip injuries happen on floors that are wet or contaminated (e.g. with food debris, oils, greases, dusts, swarf etc), and trips are mainly due to poor housekeeping, these are the most sensible things to address first.

Simple cost-effective measures can reduce the likelihood of accidents. For example, to prevent the floor becoming wet or contaminated -

• Maintain equipment to prevent any leaks of oil, water etc. Ensure that you have a system for promptly reporting and dealing with  equipment faults and containing any leak or spillage.
• Avoid contaminating the floor area with dusts and debris as far as is practicable. Ensure debris guards, splashguards, edged work surfaces are in place to contain dry materials and spillages and local exhaust extraction is provided to remove steam, grease and airborne dusts.
• Site any 'messy' operations away from general walkways and thoroughfares.
• Establish an efficient routine cleaning or clean-as-you-go regime to clear obstructions and debris, as well as procedures to react immediately to deal with spillages and contamination.
• Don.t leave floors wet after cleaning. If a clean-to-dry system cannot be provided ensure wet areas are barriered off and warning signs displayed to keep people off.

Dealing with the immediate risks is not the only measure that employers need to address and the following steps should also be  taken into consideration as part of the assessment -

• Regularly inspect floors for holes, uneven surfaces, damaged or lifting flooring materials, such as tiles, where someone could trip.
• Highlight changes in levels such as slopes or steps so that they are clearly visible.
• Ensure adequate lighting is provided in walkways and thoroughfares.
• Check that the floor surface is sufficiently rough to provide sufficient grip. Regular cleaning will help to ensure this but a new floor surface may need to be considered.
• Ensure that employees wear sensible footwear with good tread patterns and with a suitable sole material, (e.g. rubber) appropriate to the environment. If anti-slip footwear is necessary to control the slip risks then the employer has a duty to supply and pay for it.
• Where there is a customer side to your business make sure the floor coverings do not present a slip or trip hazard. Remember, customers and members of the public may not be wearing the type of sensible footwear that employees are expected to wear and may be more susceptible to slipping on certain floor types and wet or contaminated surfaces.
• Train, inform and supervise employees on the important points such as the significance of spillages, cleaning as you go regimes, the importance of thorough cleaning and drying of floor surfaces, reporting of equipment defects and the wearing of sensible or provided footwear.

For further information or advice on this or any other Health & Safety issues, please contact the Support Line on 08700 200 999.