Preventing Slips, Trips, and Falls

Posted by: Keith Lamson Posted Date: 10/26/2011

Safetydude's Safety Tip of the Week

Preventing Slips Trips, and Falls

Did you know that slips, trips, and falls are second only to automobile accidents in causing personal injury? On stairways alone, falls result in the majority of disabling injuries yearly, and there are thousands of minor injuries caused by slips, trips, and falls each year.

In Canada some sixty thousand workers get injured annually due to fall accidents. This number represents about fifteen percent of the "time-loss injuries" that were accepted by workers' compensation boards or commissions across Canada. Not mentioning a great economical loss, it amounts for a lot of pain and suffering and sometimes (much too often) even death.

Trips happen when your foot collides (strikes, hits) an object causing you to lose the balance and, eventually fall. Common causes of tripping are:

obstructed view
poor lighting
clutter in your way
wrinkled carpeting
uncovered cables
bottom drawers not being closed
uneven (steps, thresholds) walking surfaces
items placed on stairways

Slips occur when there is too little friction between a person's feet and the walking surface. Many factors can cause a slip, probably the most obvious causes are:

ice
oil
water
cleaning fluids
other slippery substances
Sometimes the person who slips may not be wearing proper shoes.

Falls can be caused by a number of things. Slips and trips frequently result in a fall. Falls also occur for other reasons, such as:

using an object other than a step stool or ladder to stand on (like a chair or milk case)
improper use of step stools or ladders
not properly installing scaffolding
working at heights without using fall protection equipment
working in an area (above ground level) that does not have proper guard rails

For the purpose of this Safety Tip, we want to focus on falls caused by slips and trips.

Good housekeeping is the first and the most important (fundamental) level of preventing falls due to slips and trips. It includes:

cleaning all spills immediately
marking spills and wet areas (wet floor plyons)
mopping or sweeping debris from floors
removing obstacles from walkways and always keeping them free of clutter
securing (tacking, taping, etc.) mats, rugs and carpets that do not lay flat
always closing file cabinet or storage drawers
covering cables that cross walkways
keeping working areas and walkways well lit
replacing used light bulbs and faulty switches
removing snow and ice from the walkways outside in a timely fashion
keep hallways and stairways free and clear at all times
in retail operations maintain displays at a height greater than 36 inches or one metre