Slips, Trips and Falls

Slips, Trips and Falls

Slips, trips and falls (STF) account for as much as 30% of workplace injuries each year. It has also been reported that approx. 6.3 million working days were lost last year due to non-fatal workplace injuries. These injuries cost employers around £500 million each year. These are noteworthy statistics, however, research from the HSE shows that duty holders tend to see STF’s as rare events and give them low priority. Why is this, and how do we challenge, and change this attitude? It might be worth noting here that these statistics are not entirely accurate, as slips, trips and falls are 3 completely different things and should not really be grouped. However, the numbers still stand, and there is still room for a lot of improvement within our workplaces.

Legislation

There are 3 key pieces of legislation when it comes to STF’s in the workplace. The Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 –states that employers, so far as reasonably practicable, ensure the health, safety and well-being of employees at work as well as non-employees such as contractors and the general public. It also states that employees themselves have a duty of care to take reasonable care for their own health and safety. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (Reg 3) – states that every employer shall make a suitable and sufficient assessment of (a) the risks to the health and safety of their employees to which they are exposed whilst they are at work; and (b) the risks to the health and safety of persons not in their employment arising out of, or in connection with, the conduct by them of their undertaking. The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 (Reg 12) – states that every floor in a workplace and the surface of every traffic route in a workplace shall be of a construction such that the floor or surface of the traffic route is suitable for the purpose for which it is used.

What Are The Causes?

STF’s can happen anywhere, in any workplace at any time, so it’s imperative to have an understanding of what the cause can be and how we can reduce this risk. STF’s can be caused by a wide variety of different factors such as;

• Contamination (spills, leaks and splashes), • Cleaning (wet floors, trailing cables), • People (human factors), • Flooring (co-efficient of friction, damages), • Environment – (weather, noise), • Footwear (sole tread pattern and compound).

Educate

How Do We Prevent Slips, Trips & Falls?

Over the last few years, the HSE has increased the research levels into STF’s, how they occur, how they are perceived and how they can be prevented. They have developed methods for testing different floorings’ slipperiness, testing footwear, ranking footwear, and also human factors. As previously mentioned, it was found that duty holders tend to give STF’s a low priority rating and are perceived as a rare occurrence.

The co-efficient of dynamic friction is the force between two objects when one object is moving, or when two objects are moving against one another. This is the value used to identify the slipperiness of a floor surface, or the strength of a foot tread amongst other things. This can be calculated by Pendulum Testing or using a Micro Roughness Metre – results from these tests indicate the potential for slip, generally rated as; high, moderate, or low slip potential. However, on a more basic level, there is so much more we can be doing to ensure the safety of our colleagues and peers:

1.Conducting “walk through/talk throughs” to gain a deeper understanding of tasks which are being performed in your workplace and where. 2.Attitudes, perceptions and the safety culture within your workplace –creating a see it, sort it attitude, and communicating control measures effectively and consistently throughout your organisation. 3.Carrying out Risk Assessments and actioning control measures to eliminate/reduce any areas which have the potential to cause STF’s as well as implementing a Safe System of Work. 4. Slip and Trip Mapping – quite simply put, draw a map of your workplace, mark all the high-risk areas on the map, record all accidents and near misses which have happened as a result of STFs, implement safeguards, continuously review.

Working together to challenge and change working practices, control measures, behaviours, and attitudes within our workplaces will help to reduce the number of injuries each year and raise the awareness of the importance of understanding STFs in our workplace.

If you think you might benefit from further information on this subject check out our e-learning course on Slips, Trips and Falls or get in touch with an advisor today.