Slip And Trip Hazards

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Slip and fall injuries can happen for a variety of reasons. To help you understand the most common causes of employee injuries and the main causes of slips trips and falls within the workplace, let's read through below.

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Trips

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The most frequent causes of trips in the workplace, is due to an obstruction in walkways, whilst others are caused by rough, potholed surfaces.

Obstructions or obstacles in a business environment can range from trailing cables and mats to machinery equipment.

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Walkways

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When preventing accidents in walkways, consider the following:

• Is the walkway in the correct location and accessible/wide enough to accommodate wheelchair users?
• What activities are taking place along the walkway and is there anything that would prevent an employee from seeing where they are going in the event of a fire?

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Summary

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Ensure walkways are checked on a daily basis for obstruction. They must be kept clear to enable employees and visitors to evacuate the building in the event of an emergency such as a fire. In addition, a walkway should provide a safe trail for people to move around a business without coming to any harm.

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Housekeeping

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We have established above that a clear walkway is important for the health and safety of not just employee's, but visitors to the business.

There should be no trailing wires or uneven surfaces in the walkway.

To ensure these areas and other working areas are free from clutter, employees and cleaners must have a 'see it, sort it' mind set.

Consider if the current cleaning routine is effective and identify where there may be problem areas and why.

Make sure that cleaning personnel have all of the necessary information, instructions, and training to do their tasks carefully and effectively.

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Summary

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Cleaning is an essential method of reducing slips and trips-related injuries at work.

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Design and maintenance

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To ensure that walkways and flooring are appropriate for the business environment you must first understand if the floor is fit for purpose.

For example, 

• Does it offer the correct protection from falling materials?
• Is the flooring set correctly and maintained?

If you have loose carpets, it can become a trip hazard resulting in injury to employees and or visitors.

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Summary

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Unsuitable floor coverings will not only make your building look untidy, but can also cause slips and trips.

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Slips

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People are rarely injured or slip falling on a clean, dry floor.

Many slip incidents involve contamination of liquids that fall onto the ground, such as rainwater and oil.

Even a small amount of contamination on a smooth surface such as vinyl tiles, ceramic tiling or varnished wood, could cause a person to lose their footing.

This is because they lack 'traction' on the ground and cannot grip the surface.

If you are an employee and notice contamination on the floor you should identify where it's coming from.

For example, is there a water leak from a burst pipe endangering employees? Is the slip hazard from an oil spillage? Is there excess water and leaves on the floor from footfall during winter?

There are efficient ways to ensure the above do not turn into a workplace injury. For example, consider adding an entrance mat for visitors and employees to wipe their feet.

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Summary

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There is always a preventative way to ensure the safety of employees.

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Fall Hazards Slips

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To reduce the possibility of a workplace slip, trip or fall, consider the following:

• Clean during non-working hours, when employees are not present.
• Ensure smooth surfaces are dry before employees and or visitors are allowed to use them.
• Try to clean in sections allowing a pathway for footfall
• Always use warning signs or boards to identify which areas are wet or hazardous, but ensure to remove such signs after use.

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In Summary

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In order to prevent slips trips and falls and ensure the safety of visitors and employees:

• Ensure all work areas complete a daily risk assessment
• Make sure there is sufficient light and access, to and around all walking surfaces
• Report any walking surface that is unsafe or wet, to employers
• Don't rely on someone else…clean up spills immediately to help prevent slips and falls
• Ensure stairs are not exposed to weather conditions such as ice, snow and leaves from wintery weather

Falls in the workplace can be critical and depending on the severity of the injury, life changing. Always practice good housekeeping to reduce the risks of slips trips and falls within the workplace.

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Contact Us

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If you have suffered falls in the workplace or been the victim of a slip and trip accident due to poor housekeeping, wet floors, cables on the floor within the work area or any other hazards, talk to Nevis Beck today.

We can help with slips, trips and falls and Accidents at work injury claims. If you have been injured and it was not your fault, we can help.

We are a dedicated team who provide help and support to people who have been injured through no fault of their own.

We understand that accidents can happen at any time so if you’ve been involved in an accident that wasn’t your fault then we want to offer legal help. Regardless of whether it was caused by someone else or you were hit by something such as a piece of heavy machinery, let us take care of everything for you.

We offer a no win no fee policy for all claimants and can trust our certified claims experts to do everything they can, to get you compensation.

Call us today on 0141 465 4530