Every year thousands of people are injured by slipping, tripping or falling and many are left with painful life long injuries. Falls can be fatal. Slips, trips and fall accidents are the second highest cause of accidents after manual handling. These accidents are preventable and in doing so everybody has a role to play...

Slips are caused by the presence of substances such as water, grease, oil, fats, soaps, granules, plastic sheets, packaging, leaves, ice etc deposited on the floor arising from the working conditions or in some cases the weather. Slip hazards can be found on both wet and dry surfaces.

Trips can be caused by such features as electric cables or compressed-air lines across walkways, curled-up or worn carpets, uneven floor surfaces and steps, or discarded work items.

Falls may be caused by slips or trips or when adjacent surfaces are at different levels leading to persons losing their balance because they had not anticipated the change in level. Slips or trips on stairs are particularly dangerous.

The hazards listed above are so ordinary and commonplace that people often accept them as part of normal living until they or someone close to them has an accident and is seriously hurt.

Strategy

Management must take responsibility for controlling these hazards and must assign appropriate responsibilities to staff. Clear policies should address what people need to do to identify and monitor slip, trip and fall hazards and the action to take once they identify a hazard.

Slips, trips and falls must be considered in the workplace hazard assessment that is required by law. This assessment should take account of:

1. The type of hazard including how likely it is to occur
2. Characteristics of the workplace such as the nature and condition of floor surfaces, quality of lighting
3. Influence of the weather (e.g. rain, frost or leaves)
4. Maintenance and cleaning procedures
5. Workplace users

Where workplaces are being modified or constructed there is an excellent opportunity to prevent slips and trips by selecting appropriate floor materials that are slip resistant and installed so as to minimise trip hazards.

Nature of the hazard

In some work areas such as certain food processing activities slip hazards may not always be completely avoidable and the control measures will need to assume the hazard is always present.

In other situations the floor surface may be non-slippery for most of the time but leaks from plant or bad weather may lead to the creation of a slip hazard. It only takes a small amount of liquid on a smooth floor to create a hazard. In these situations the immediate control measures will focus upon detection of liquids and the actions to be taken to remove the hazard or reduce it by the provision of warnings and cordoning off areas.

Permanent trip hazards should be removed as far as possible by such measures as the rerouting of pipes or cables, provision of more sockets to reduce long cable lengths, use of battery powered tools and the repair of uneven floor and stair surfaces.

A good housekeeping regime will go a long way to reduce intermittent hazards from badly stored or discarded items. Materials should never be left or stored on stairs.

Where changes in floor level cannot be avoided they should be clearly marked and the provision of handrails to control the movement of persons may be appropriate. Changes in level should not take people by surprise.

Characteristics of your workplace

It is better to eliminate slip hazards by choosing a suitable surface rather than depending on cleaning regimes to keep a floor safe. Building designers should ensure that the intended appearance of a building does not compromise the choice of inherently safer floor options.

Carpets or mats placed on smooth floors can pose both slip and trip hazards and, if used, should be securely fixed to the floor at their edges and at any joints.

Adequate lighting, including the avoidance of glare and shadows, is necessary to expose slip /trip hazards. Higher lighting levels are needed where older people are present.

Poorly sited or excessive signage can distract people who are then less likely to notice slip or trip hazards.

Maintenance and cleaning procedures

Floor cleaning procedures should be incorporated in the operation and maintenance procedures for a company. The procedure should specify the methods and materials to be used as the use of the wrong cleaning method can increase the area of hazard and level of risk. The cleaning agent used should be suitable for the floor surface and the type of contamination encountered. A build -up of polish or detergent residues should be avoided.

The drying of floors after cleaning is most important for the control of slip hazards.

Staff should be informed, trained and supervised with regard to:

• Cleaning and drying floors
• Importance of dealing with spillages/leaks
• "Cleaning as you go"
• Reporting hazards as they arise and any equipment defects contributing to slip hazards or problems with the cleaning equipment itself
• Prompt incident reporting
• Use of suitable footwear

Cleaning should, where practical, be carried out when there are less people around.

Cleaning activity should be organised so as to provide dry paths through areas being cleaned. It is better to restrict access to areas that are being cleaned by the use of barriers rather than depending on the use of cones or signs alone.

Research has shown that forewarning people of a hazard can lead them to modifying their gait so as to anticipate the situation but attention must be paid to removing signs when the hazard has been dealt with; otherwise people will tend to ignore them if their experience tells them that the signs are always displayed irrespective of the conditions underfoot.

Where existing unsuitable floor surfaces are identified, the hazard can be reduced by controlling contamination, using mats, treating the surface or in some cases replacing it altogether with a safer material.