Flooring
Changing or modifying walking surfaces is the next level of
preventing slip and trips. Recoating or replacing floors,
installing mats, pressure-sensitive abrasive strips or
abrasive-filled paint-on coating and metal or synthetic
decking can further improve safety and reduce risk of
falling. Also, any trip/slip hazard that is not possible to
eliminate should be marked. This can be simply done by
using a “wet floor” sign, a “watch your step sign,” or by
painting the edge of a troublesome step a bright color.
However, it is critical to remember that high-tech flooring
requires good housekeeping as much as any other flooring.
In addition, resilient, non-slippery flooring prevents or
reduces foot fatigue and contributes to slip prevention
measures.
Proper shoes help to prevent accidents. An efficient way
of increasing the coefficient of friction is to wear shoes
appropriate for the conditions.
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Shoes having neoprene soles are used on most
surfaces, but are not recommended for oily
conditions.
Crepe soles are recommended for wet or dry rough
concrete, but are not suggested for tile, smooth
concrete, or wood surfaces.
Leather soles can become slippery if wet, and are not
recommended for dry smooth concrete or tile.
Soft rubber soles are preferred for dry surfaces, but
are not suggested for wet surfaces or greasy
concrete.
Hard rubber soles are best for greasy concrete and
wood. They are not recommended for ceramic tile,
dry or wet concrete and dry wood.
You can reduce the risk of slipping on wet flooring by:
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Taking your time and paying attention to where you
are going
Adjusting your stride to a pace that is suitable for the
walking surface and the tasks you are doing
Walking with the feet pointed slightly outward
Making wide turns at corners
You can reduce the risk of tripping by:
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Footwear
In workplaces where floors may be oily or wet or where
workers spend considerable time outdoors, prevention of
fall accidents should focus on selecting proper footwear.
Since there is no footwear with anti-slip properties for every
condition, consultation with manufacturers' is highly
recommended.
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Always using installed light sources that provide
sufficient light for your tasks or, using a flashlight if
you enter a dark room where there is no light
Ensuring that things you are carrying or pushing do
not prevent you from seeing any obstructions, spills,
etc.
Practicing good housekeeping
Pay attention to what is in front of you
Slip, trip and fall safety checklists
Another great way to make sure you have significantly
reduced your slip, trip and fall hazards is by completing a
slip, trip and fall safety checklist. These can be easily
found on the internet at various sites.
Most years slips, trips, and falls result in somewhere
between 15 percent and 20 percent of all nonfatal
workplace injuries; the highest frequency of injury of
any single regulated activity.
In one recent year, 803 workers died as a result of
workplace falls. Every 35 minutes an older adult dies
as the result of a fall (National Resource on Aging
and Injury).
The National Safety Council states that there are
over 9 million disabling slip/fall injuries requiring
hospitalization every year (that’s about 25,000 per
day). More than 300,000 are “disabling” injuries.
The Bureau of Labor statistics shows that 104 million
lost workdays per year is due to slip/fall injures. This
represents 65% of all employee-hours lost, and is
one of the reasons why Workers’ Compensation
rates are increasing approximately 30% every year.
Healthcare
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
[2009], the incidence rate of lost-workday injuries
from slips, trips, and falls (STFs) on the same level in
hospitals was 38.2 per 10,000 employees, which was
90% greater than the average rate for all other
private industries combined (20.1 per 10,000
employees). STFs as a whole are the second most
common cause of lost-workday injuries in hospitals.
3 Basic steps to avoid slips, trips, and falls:
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Slips
Slips occur where there is too little friction or traction
between the footwear and the
walking surface. Slips can
cause you to loose your
balance and eventually fall.
Common causes of slips are:
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Wet or oily surfaces
Occasional spills
Weather hazards
Loose, unanchored rugs
or mats
Flooring or other walking
with poor traction
Trips
Trips occur when your foot collides (strikes, hits) an
object causing you to lose your balance and eventually
fall. Common causes of tripping are:
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In all, slips, trips and falls make up 25% of lostworkday injuries in hospitals, according to the report.
They rank second in frequency behind overexertion
(38%) and ahead of contact injuries (14%). Slips,
trips and falls were significantly more likely than other
types of injuries to result in fractures and multiple
injuries.
Understand how fall accidents happen
Identify the trouble areas
Eliminate or minimize hazards of falling.
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Obstructed view (as when carrying an object)
Poor lighting
Clutter in your way
Wrinkled carpeting
Uncovered cables
Bottom drawers not being closed
Uneven (steps, thresholds) walking surfaces
Prevention of Falls due to Slips and Trips
Both slips and trips result from some a kind of
unintended or unexpected change in the contact
between the feet and the ground or walking
surface. This shows that good housekeeping,
quality of walking surfaces (flooring), selection of
proper footwear, and appropriate pace of walking
are critical for preventing fall accidents.
Housekeeping is not just cleanliness. It includes
keeping work areas neat and orderly; maintaining
halls and floors free of slip and trip hazards; and
removing of waste materials (e.g., paper,
cardboard) and other hazards from work areas. It
also requires paying attention to important details
such as the layout of the whole workplace, aisle
marking, the adequacy of storage facilities, and
maintenance. Effective housekeeping is an
ongoing operation: it is not a hit-and-miss cleanup
done occasionally.
Housekeeping
Good housekeeping is the first and the most
important (fundamental) level of preventing falls
due to slips and trips. It includes:
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Cleaning all spills immediately
Marking spills and wet areas
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
Researchers analyzed workers’ compensation injury
claims from acute-care hospitals and found that slips,
trips, and falls most commonly resulted in injuries to
the lower extremities: Injuries to the knees, ankles
and feet made up 44.9% of cases. The nature of
injury most often was sprains, strains, dislocations
and tears, representing 48.3% of cases.
SOURCES: ISSA/OSHA Alliance, CCOHS, UNM, NASD, DHHS
NOTE: Without good housekeeping practices, any other preventive measures
such as installation of sophisticated flooring, specialty footwear or training on
techniques of walking and safe falling will never be fully effective.