Slips and trips

Shattered Lives - Kitchen

Falls due to slips or trips remain a significant contributor to the risk of injury and ill health at work. Recent statistics for Great Britain show that slips, trips and falls are the biggest cause of employer-reported non-fatal injuries to employees, accounting for 30% of all specified injuries.

It is estimated that over 6 million working days were lost last year because of non-fatal workplace injuries, with plenty of physical harm done to employees and significant costs to employers. But almost all slips and trips can be prevented, often with simple inexpensive interventions.

Understanding and preventing slips

Slip and trip accidents happen for a number of reasons. The following model will help you understand the factors that can contribute to slip accidents and the action to take to prevent them . It is called the slip potential model. One or more of these factors may play a part in any slip accident.

Contamination

People rarely slip on a clean, dry floor. Contamination is involved in almost all slip accidents, that is anything that ends up on a floor, eg rain water, oil, dust etc. If a floor has a smooth surface (eg standard vinyl, ceramic tiles or varnished wood), even a tiny amount of contamination can be a real slip problem.

Cleaning

Effective cleaning is an important way of employers managing slips and trips risks
Cleaning is important in managing slips and trips for two reasons:

cleaning is supposed to deal with contamination that would otherwise lead to slip accidents but
the cleaning process often introduces slip or trip hazards, ie wet floors, trailing cables, etc

Make sure that staff who carry out cleaning duties have the right information, instruction and training to enable them to carry out their work safely and effectively.

For further information see the information sheet Slips and trips: The importance of floor cleaning (PDF) .

People

How people act and behave in their work environment can affect slips and trips.

deal with spillages instead of waiting for someone else to deal with it
wear footwear (Personal Protective Equipment - PPE) as it can make a difference
rushing, carrying large objects which prevents them from seeing where they are going or becoming distracted whilst walking eg. by using a mobile phone

Flooring

The floor in a workplace must be suitable for the type of work activity taking place on it. Floors must be suitable, in good condition and free from obstructions. People should be able to move around safely.

Where a floor is likely to be subject to frequent contamination, people should still be able to walk on it without the risk of slipping. See Assessing the slip resistance of flooring, which also describes the relevant British and European standards.

For detailed information on flooring see Safer surfaces to walk on, CIRIA

Assessing the slip resistance of flooring: a technical info sheet

Environment

Environmental issues can increase the risk of, or prevent slips and trips, so it is important to take them into consideration. But firstly, what does the term 'Environment' mean as regards slips and trips? Lighting (natural or otherwise), loud or unfamiliar noises, the weather, humidity, condensation etc.

The following gives an indication of how they can affect slips and trips

Too much light on a shiny floor can cause glare and stop people from seeing hazards on the floor and stairs.
Too little light will also prevent people from seeing hazards on the floor and stairs.
Unfamiliar and loud noises may be distracting.
If rainwater gets onto a smooth surface inside or outside of a building, it may create a slip hazard. Good entrance design (eg canopies) can help.
Cold weather can cause frost and ice to form, which may create slippery surfaces. (see icy conditions faq)
Condensation may make a smooth floor slippery.

Footwear

Choosing slip-resistant footwear from the whole host of products on the market can be difficult. Sole descriptions are varied, from 'improving the grip performance' to 'excellent multi-directional slip-resistance'. Often, footwear is just described as 'slip-resistant' and the brochure does not describe the conditions for which the footwear is most suitable.

Footwear selection has to take account of a number of factors in addition to slip resistance, such as comfort, durability and any other safety features required, such as toe protection. The final choice may have to be a compromise.

Choosing footwear for kitchens (HSE) (PDF, 60KB)

Understanding and preventing trips

What do employers need to do?

What can employees do?

Slips when cleaning

Icy conditions and winter weather

Slip and trip accidents increase during the Autumn and Winter season for a number of reasons: there is less daylight, leaves fall onto paths and become wet and slippery and cold weather spells cause ice and snow to build up on paths. There are effective actions that you can take to reduce the risk of a slip or trip. Regardless of the size of your site, always ensure that regularly used walkways are promptly tackled.

Ice, frost and snow

Clearing pavement — Clearing the walkways

To reduce the risk of slips on ice, frost or snow, you need to assess the risk and put in a system to manage it.
Identify the outdoor areas used by pedestrians most likely to be affected by ice, for example: - building entrances, car parks, pedestrian walkways, shortcuts, sloped areas and areas constantly in the shade or wet. It may not be reasonable to remove all of the snow and ice, or to grit all the areas identified. This will mean prioritising which footpaths and areas are to be cleared and/or gritted
Monitor the temperature, as prevention is key.
You need to take action whenever freezing temperatures are forecast. Keep up to date by visiting a weather service site such as the Met Office or the Highways England.
There are also smart signs on the market, available to buy at low cost, which display warning messages at 50 and below.
Put a procedure in place to prevent an icy surface forming and/or keep pedestrians off the slippery surface;
- Use grit (see separate article below for more detail) or similar, on areas prone to be slippery in frosty, icy conditions;
- Consider covering walkways eg by an arbour high enough for people to walk through, or use an insulating material on smaller areas overnight;
- Divert pedestrians to less slippery walkways and barrier off existing ones.
If warning cones are used, remember to remove them once the hazard has passed or they will eventually be ignored.
Your risk assessment for ice and snow should include a consideration of whether steps have to be taken to protect vulnerable groups, such as disabled people, the elderly, or new and expectant mothers. If the conditions are severe it may be worth considering arranging for them to work from home.

Gritting

The most common method used to de-ice floors is gritting as it is relatively cheap, quick to apply and easy to spread. Rock salt (plain and treated) is the most commonly used 'grit'. It is the substance used on public roads by the highways authority.

Salt can stop ice forming and cause existing ice or snow to melt. It is most effective when it is ground down, but this will take far longer on pedestrian areas than on roads.

Gritting should be carried out when frost, ice or snow is forecast or when walkways are likely to be damp or wet and the floor temperatures are at, or below freezing. The best times are early in evening before the frost settles and/or early in the morning before employees arrive. Salt doesn't work instantly; it needs sufficient time to dissolve into the moisture on the floor.

If you grit when it is raining heavily the salt will be washed away, causing a problem if the rain then turns to snow. Compacted snow, which turns to ice, is difficult to treat effectively with grit. Be aware that 'dawn frost' can occur on dry surfaces, when early morning dew forms and freezes on impact with the cold surface. It can be difficult to predict when or where this condition will occur.

Public areas

There has been considerable concern that that, by clearing snow or salting in public areas, people are likely to be sued for falls. Consequently, the Government has issued a Snow Code, which states:

“You can clear snow and ice from pavements yourself. It’s unlikely that you’ll be sued or held responsible if someone is injured on a path or pavement if you’ve cleared it carefully.”

RoSPA recommends that anyone clearing public pavements should:

not make conditions worse, for instance by pouring boiling water over the pavement and walking away, leaving a sheer icy surface to develop
do a good job, and keep on top of the job by reacting to changing conditions. In most cases, the area will need tackling more than once

Further resources:

Lighting

Is there is enough lighting around your workplace for you and your workers to be able to see and avoid hazards that might be on the ground? The easiest way to find out is to ask your staff. Another way is to shadow your employees for a couple of days, walk the main internal and external routes that they use throughout their working day. It is important to do this both inside and outside of the workplace, as the effect of light changes during the day. If you can't see hazards on the ground you will need to improve the lighting (eg new lights or changing the type of bulb).

Wet and decaying leaves

Fallen leaves that become wet or have started to decay can create slip risks in two ways, they hide any hazard that may be on the path or they themselves create a slip risk.

Put in place a procedure for removing leaves at regular intervals; you might even consider removing the offending bushes or trees altogether & replace with a non-drop evergreen variety of bush or tree.

Rain water

In dealing with rainwater:

When fitting external paved areas ensure that the material used will be slip resistant when wet.
Discourage people from taking shortcuts over grass or dirt which are likely to become slippery when wet. Consider converting existing shortcuts into proper paths.
On new sites, before laying paths, think about how pedestrians are likely to move around the site. Putting the path in the right place from the start may save you money in the long term.
Many slip accidents happen at building entrances as people entering the building walk in rainwater. Fitting canopies of a good size over building entrances and in the right position can help to prevent this.
If a canopy is not a possibility, consider installing large, absorbent mats or even changing the entrance flooring to one which is non-slip.

Make a complaint about health and safety conditions

Last updated: 20 March 2024

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Shattered Lives - Kitchen

Walkways

Housekeeping

Design and maintenance

Stairs

How do you Control the risk of slips and trips in the workplace?

Risk assessment

How can you help to prevent slips and trips in your workplace?

Case Studies: Kitchen related accidents

Ice, frost and snow

Gritting

Public areas

Further resources:

Lighting

Wet and decaying leaves

Rain water

Effective matting systems

Housekeeping and cleaning regimes

Contamination and spillages

Kitchen related accidents

Design of workplace and work activities

Maintenance of plant and the work environment

Specification of appropriate flooring

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