Preventing Slips and Trips Course

Anyone at risk of slips, trips, or falls in the workplace would benefit from this course:

• Construction Workers
• Warehouse Workers
• Delivery staff
• Staff responsible for walkways in the winter
• Staff who are responsible for cleaning spills
• All staff in workplaces where there is a risk of slips, trips or falls

On completion of this Slips and trips course learner will know;

• Understand legislation relating to slips and trips
• Know the most common injuries
• Understand the role of risk assessments
• What causes slips and trips
• How to prevent slips and trip

The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 requires employers to ensure the health and safety of all employees and anyone affected by their work, so far as is reasonably practicable, which means balancing the level of risk against the measures needed to control the risk in terms of money, time or trouble. This includes taking steps to control slip and trip risks.

The Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999 build on the HSWA to include a duty on employers to assess risks (including slip and trip risks) and take action where necessary.

Most slips occur when the floor in contaminated.  Trips occur when you catch your foot on an unexpected obstacle.

Most accidents result from;

• Uneven surfaces
• Low friction between footwear and floor
• Stairs
• Trailing cables
• Unsuitable flooring
• Poor housekeeping, for example not cleaning as you go

Firstly undertake a Risk Assessment, this is mandatory and will help you see any issues to fix.

Depending on your findings, likely control measures will include:

• Ask staff to clean as they go, tidy cables, and keep walkways clear
• Ask staff to take care and stairs and hold the handrail
• Salt icy walkways and carparks in the winter
• Use matting where appropriate
• Provide appropriate slips trips and falls training for staff
• Ask staff to clean spillages immediately.  And recognise ‘Caution Slippery’ signage is a short-term resort
• Select the right footwear for high friction
• Engineer improvements if budgets permit.  For example, better lighting, improved flooring, level uneven surfaces.

Statistics help us understand the risk so proportionate resources can be deployed.

From UK RIDDOR and HSE statistics we know.

• 69,206 non-fatal injuries were reported
• 20,022 of these non-fatal injuries resulted from Slips, Trips or Falls on same level.
• Around 1,000 major injuries happened on workplace stairs
• Cost to the NHS of workplace slips and trips is estimate at £133 million per year
• The cost to employers is over £500 million a year
• The biggest barrier to reducing accidents is not taking the risks seriously