Slips, trips, and falls continue to make up the majority of the penalties handed out monthly by WorkSafeBC. The January / February 2010 issue of WorkSafe Magazine reported a high number of incidents related to a failure to provide workers with proper protective equipment and training to reduce the hazards of slips, trips, and falls that exist while working.

To reduce the number of slips, trips, and falls at your workplace, make sure you understand why they happen and use properly designed workspaces and work methods.

Slips occur as a result of losing stability with your lead foot. This can happen as a result of moving from one type of surface area, such as a rough surface, to another such as a smooth surface. Slips can also occur as a result of a walking surface that is wet, dusty, or highly granulated.

Workers should make a point of adjusting their walking style to compensate for changes in surface. At the same time, employers need to identify potential slip hazards. If the hazard cannot be eliminated, ensure appropriate warning signs or boards are posted to alert workers. At the very least, slips can result in muscle strains but can be deadly if they happen around hazardous objects, machinery, or heights. Wearing appropriate footwear for your worksite conditions is the first step in mitigating slips.

Trips occur as a result of your forward moving leg or foot getting caught while your body continues its forward motion. Common causes of trips are changes in the elevation of walking surfaces. Try to mitigate abrupt changes in walking surface height by replacing stairs with ramps wherever possible. However, be aware that you will need to increase the slip resistance of the ramp surface by approximately threefold in order to prevent slips as the ramp angle increases to as much as 20 degrees.

Slips and trips often precede falls from work surfaces. The same prevention methods for slips and trips should be applied to both ground level and elevated surfaces. To prevent falls from heights, employ railings, guardrails, and fall protection systems where necessary.

Reduce slips, trips, and falls and improve your workplace and worksite through these simple housekeeping techniques:
• Keep floors clear of dust and debris. To make it easy to dispose of debris, keep a broom and dust pan and waste bins close by.
• Eliminate abrupt changes in walking surfaces or mark with signs.
• Don’t allow equipment or materials to accumulate in the middle of floors. Make sure everything is tucked up against a wall and clearly marked.
• Cords lying across walkways are another tripping hazard. Strap multiple cords together and tuck them up against a wall or tape them down to the floor in one foot intervals. Ensure walkways stay clear.

It is not enough to keep your worksite clean. You should also make sure your company has an active health and safety plan in place. Employers are required to have a written fall protection plan in place for all work conducted above three metres (ten feet) and for work conducted in an area where workers are not protected by permanent guardrails. Make sure to provide training for new workers, enforce safety onsite, ensure all workers have appropriate personal protective equipment and personal fall protection equipment and are instructed on how to use it, and that a proper fall protection system is in place.
For more information about injury prevention and best practices visit the Construction Safety Network or the Construction Safety Association of BC.

The Construction Safety Association of British Columbia is the construction industry’s trusted partner in construction safety training. A non-profit organization owned and operated by the construction industry of British Columbia, CSABC builds safety through training, offering a range of safety courses that provides safety training at all levels –  owner, manager, supervisor, and worker, and includes the Certificate of Recognition Program, a WorkSafeBC incentive rebate program.