Getting To Grips With Slips And Trips

follow a ‘hierarchy of controls’ controls that should be considered inorder. The controls listed first aregenerally preferable or most effectiveand should be considered first. Thecase studies in this publication willshow these controls in real lifesituations.on the chances of slips and tripshappening. Are there distractions(either intentional or not) topedestrians? How is the workplacelaid out and arranged? Does thiscreate or eliminate hazards? What isthe lighting like? Is it dark or is therelighting glare? Are there likely to besudden noises or are pedestrianswalking in restricted space orcongested areas?Slip risk controls. Footwear. What people have on their feet has aneffect on the chances of slipping ortripping. The right sort of footwear canprovide better grip in a variety ofunderfoot conditions and poorfootwear can itself cause trips. Properfootwear can be a risk control measurebut only where there is proper controlover the footwear in use, it is generallyof little use in preventing slips and tripsto e.g. members of the public. People. Human factors play a big part in slipand trip risks. Variables includeindividual age, fitness, agility andcapability, pedestrians rushing,pushing, pulling or carrying loads, thenature of any tasks being undertaken,standards of safe behaviour that canbe expected, experience and decisionmaking of individuals, personalattitudes and the organisation’sculture, individuals reaching stretchingor turning. There are many morehuman factors that could come intoplay. It is important not to forget to lookat these ‘people’ aspects as well asthe things around them. Eliminate the contamination.Stop contamination getting ontowalkways.Limit the effect of thecontamination by removing itpromptly.Maintain floor grip with propercleaning methods.Increase floor surface roughness.Lay a more slip resistant floor withhigher surface roughness.Deal with any changes in walkwaylevel.Are conditions right for goodvisibility and pedestrianconcentration?Do the working tasks introduceextra slip risks?Exclude vulnerable pedestriansfrom slip risk areas.Have good supervision.Establish a positive safety culture.Introduce suitable footwear.Train & inform employees.Set procedures for visitors.Trip risk controls. Controlling slip & trip risks. The guidance and publications sectiongives some very useful referenceswhere we can find detailed guidanceon how to control risks. These broadly 7Eliminate holes, slopes or unevensurfaces.Good housekeeping systems andstandards to prevent obstructions.Good lighting to see obstructions.Rearrange task and process flows.Establish a positive attitude thattrips can be prevented.Train & inform employees.

Case studiesresistance but eventually decidedthat the most effective option wasto replace the floor covering.Management made sure that thenew floor covering had beenreliably tested for slip resistanceand that it would be expected toperform well in a commercialkitchen situation.Pub-restaurantchain’s choice ofkitchen floor surfaceA local authority EnvironmentalHealth Officer (EHO) made ahealth & safety visit to a largesuburban pub-restaurant andnoticed that the kitchen floor feltunusually slippery. Kitchen staffconfirmed that the floor coveringwas much more slippery than thesimilar ‘safety’ flooring that it hadreplaced some months earlier.The replacement floor (a ‘safety’epoxy material with anti slipparticles) was tested by HSL andthe results indicated that it ought toperform well in both dry conditionsand when subject to the sort ofcontamination that is to beexpected in a busy kitchen.The slipperiness that staffexperienced did not seem toimprove after routine cleaning andattempts to reduce grease depositsby improving the extract ventilationdid not seem to have an effect.The EHO was satisfied that the pubmanagement had taken the rightaction to deal with the problem onsite but pointed out that the actionneeded by the company may notend there. The pub-restaurantchain had a number of similar sitesacross the country. The floorcovering that prompted the initialinvestigation was part of theirstandard specification used whentheir pub-restaurant kitchens werebeing refitted and had already beeninstalled at some of their sites.Tests by the Health & SafetyLaboratory (HSL) using pendulumcoefficient of friction and surfacemicro-roughness measurementtechniques showed that the floor’sslip resistance was ‘borderline’when dry and unsatisfactory if wet.This was not felt to give enoughgrip for a kitchen where there wasbound to be at least somesplashing onto the floor.‘Get reliableThe companyinformationwas advised toabout the slipresistance ofreview its ownfloorfinishes’.flooringspecification standards. It also wentaway to consider what needed tobe done about its sites that hadalready been refurbished andequipped with the type of floorcovering that had to be removedfrom this site.The pub managementexperimented with different floorcleaning methods to assesswhether this could improve the slipGetting reliable information aboutthe slip resistance performance of8

company increased the frequencyof floor cleaning in the foyer attimes of wet weather. Thisfrequency depended upon thenumber of people entering thebuilding and the amount of rain. Asystem was arranged so that thestaff were constantly vigilant forsigns of water on the supermarketfloor. When water was identifiedinside the store cleaning wouldfollow. The method of cleaningused in these areas was alsoaltered. Rather than mopping(which left the floor surface wet),staff used a wet vac, which left thefloor dry.floor finishes should always be partof the design and specificationprocess and is especially importantwhere there is a risk of floorsbecoming wet or contaminated.Slippery storeentrance in wetweather supermarket entrancematting.The problem.In a recently opened supermarket,staff and members of the publicwere having a number of slip, tripand falling accidents. The areas ofthe supermarket that were mostaffected were the terrazzo floortiles in the entrance area and thefirst few aisles of the supermarketadjacent to this entrance.The supermarket also reviewedtheir store entrance mattingsystem. The existing sunkenmatting was complimented by extramatting during wet conditions. Inthe longer term the supermarketbuilt a canopy over the entrance tofurther reduce the direct ingress ofwater.Investigations showed that theseareas quickly became wet on rainydays with water being walked in onshoes through the foyer.The cost for training staff regardingthe frequency of cleaning wasapproximately half a day permember of staff and the wet vaccost less than 500. Thesupplementary entrance mats costabout 20 each. The cost of theadditional canopy was absorbedduring store refurbishment.After 18 months of these changesbeing in place there had not been aserious slipping accident.The entrance matting systems inplace were not large enough tocope with the amount of watertransferred onto the mats frompedestrian movement.16 year-old employeeflash fries her arm in360 F oil followingslip.The solution.This was looked at both long andshort term. In the short term the9

This accident shows that failure tomaintain plant, preventcontamination and to provideeffective training and supervisioncan contribute to slippingaccidents. Research has shownthat slips are of caused by acombination of factors.various attempts had been madeby different contractors to cure theleak. No one had sole responsibilityto co-ordinate the repair of faultyequipment and a lack ofcommunication between differentshift managers left the equipmentleaking over a long period of time.A 16-year-old girl was employed ata fast food outlet to cook fries at afrying range. She slipped on waterleaking from an ice-makingmachine and instinctively put outher hand to break her fall.Unfortunately her hand went intothe deep fat fryer containing oil at atemperature of 360 F and shesustained severe burns to her lefthand and forearm.Following the accident, thecompany did a complete review ofits management of wet orcontaminated floors. Slip control was given priorityover serving customers Systems were put in place toensure maintenance of faultyequipment Managers were identified ashaving responsibility to ensureslips procedures wereimplemented and followed Employees empowered to dealwith slips as a priority and weregiven backing by companyThe outlet was short staffed on theday of accident and the TeamLeader was working on the tillsinstead of monitoring workplacesafety. Although the company policy wasto mop up spillages it was commonpractice to leave spillages at busytimes and cover them with a sheetof cardboard, which itself cancreate a tripping hazard. At busytimes it was usual to give greaterpriority to serving customers thanto cleaning spillages.Extra training on slipsprocedures was given to all staffThe local authority prosecuted thecompany and on successfulconviction the magistrates imposeda total fine of 15000. Theinvestigating Environmental HealthOfficer believed that the accidentwas completely avoidable, as thecompany had failed to maintain asafe system of work or to carry outa suitable and sufficientassessment of the risks associatedwith slipping within the kitchen.Badly installed ‘safetyfloor’ in a swimmingpool changing area.Severe burn injury resulting froma simple slipping accident.The problem.Following a history of slippingaccidents a new anti-slip floor hadbeen laid in a swimming poolThe ice-making machine had beenleaking for several days and10

changing area as part of arefurbishment programme. Thenew floor was an epoxy resinincorporating anti-slip particles.However, as soon as the swimmingpool re-opened following therefurbishment, over 30 slippingincidents were reported. TheHealth and Safety Laboratory(HSL) were called in to assess thefloor and it was discovered thatthere were patches of resin floorwith no anti-slip particles. Due tothe lack of anti-slip particles, theseareas were in fact just smooth resinand accident records showed thatthese areas were indeedresponsible for the majority if not allof the slipping accidents.The finished floor with an evendistribution of anti-sliptreatment.The costThe contractors agreed to relay theproblem areas of the floor at noextra cost.Wet mopping canincrease the risk ofslippingAssessing the floor surface.HSE researchers were in a fastfood outlet observing activities inconnection with slips and tripaccidents. A customer bought foodand drink but spilled some of thecoffee on the way to sit down. Thespillage was small, about the sizeof a 50p piece.The solution.The contractors were called back toresurface the floor to ensure aconsistent spread of anti slipparticles.The resultThe health and safety managerresponsible for the swimming poolwas very happy with the resurfacedfloor, which has been carefullymaintained and using the correctcleaning regime, slipping accidentsare now are rarity.The fast food company was awareof the risk of slipping from liquids orfood spilled on their smooth floorsand, almost immediately, amember of staff came to deal withthe problem.They mopped up the spillage (andalso the surrounding area becauseit looked dirty), squeezed out the11

mop and went over the whole areaagain, leaving an area ofapproximately two square metres‘mop dry’. But ‘mop dry’ meant thatthere was a fine, almost invisiblefilm of water on the surface.Ramped walkways ata railway stationThe problem.Management at a railway stationhad experienced problems withslipping accidents on ramps downto platform areas. The ramps werecovered by ceramic tiles that wereslippery when wet. The risk ofslipping was increased partlybecause pedestrians were morelikely to be rushing down the rampto catch their train.The researchers tookmeasurements on the ‘mop dry’area using pendulum and surfacemicro roughness techniques, andalso timed how long it took to drycompletely.The two square metres of moppedfloor, now almost indistinguishablein appearance from the rest of thefloor, took approximately sevenminutes to dry and measurementsshowed that the area wasextremely slippery during that time.The solution.Initially, railway stationmanagement arranged for theramps to be treated with an acidetch to try to increase the slipresistance of the tiles.Research has shown that manyslips are caused by a suddenchange in floor surfacecharacteristics. In this case, for theseven minutes until the floor driedcompletely, it would be difficult forcustomers and staff to realise theywere walking from a safe to anunsafe surface.The company, who had a goodawareness of slips and trips risksand an efficient system foridentifying spillages, had, in fact,increased the risk of slippingbecause of the method of cleaningused in this instance. Simplycleaning up this spillage, anddrying the small area‘Cleanof floor with a paperfloors to atowel would havedry finish.’been far better.Ramped walkway surface ‘before’.This did help to reduce the numberof slipping accidents. However, itwas felt that more could be done.Later a second walkway surfacewas applied. This was an anti-slipreinforced plastic covering that wassimply glued on top of the oldceramic tiled surface giving thevisual effect of a brick paviorsurface.The fast food company went on toreview their spillage and generalcleaning procedures.12

concrete steps. Fresh leaves hadalso fallen on top indicating thedecomposing leaves had beenthere for some time. I fell heavilyonto my right knee. I went homeand returned to work the next dayhowever my knee was extremelyswollen, painful, and still bleeding. Iwas sent to for treatment and it wassutured and x-rayed. It was foundthat I had damaged my kneecap,but hopefully time would heal it. Iwas still in pain three months laterand I was told that I neededsurgery. The leaves weresupposed to be cleared on a dailybasis, however, due to staffshortages this was not done.In 1992 I slipped again, this time onan unmarked wet floor. Snow wasfalling outside when I entered thebuilding to start work. I went to myoffice changed out of my boots andinto my flat shoes. I left my office todo attendance figures, unknown tome someone had mopped the floorand failed to dry it or place anybarriers or warning signs out. Inaddition, the door mat which wasused daily by approximately 100staff and patients was too small forthe area of tiled floor and it did nothave the capacity to absorb all ofthe water being brought in bypedestrians. Some of the waterwas being transferred on to the dryfloor.Ramped walkways afterresurfacing.The outcome.In 12 months slipping accidentshad reduced by 50% and it wasprojected that the payback periodfor the 35,000 cost of the workwould be less than 2 years basedon reduced claims alone.Proposals are now beingformulated to extend the treatmentto the passenger concourse andother areas at the station.Young woman losesher leg after two slipaccidentsI slipped and fell directly onto myright ankle, I was assisted to achair and it was evident that theankle was broken, it was also verycontorted. I was taken into

to getting management and workers to act are:- Not taking the risks seriously. Not understanding the causes of slipping. Thinking that slips and trips are inevitable. Poor application of risk assessment and management controls. Over a third of all major workplace injuries are a result of a slip or trip.