Fall Prevention – top 5 tips

Did you know that falls are the second leading cause of unintentional injury deaths worldwide?

Globally, falls are a major public health problem. Each year an estimated 684,000¹ individuals die from falls. Accidents in the workplace account for a sizeable proportion of this number.

Risk factors contributing to workplace accidents:

• loss of grip between the shoe and the floor
• when there is a contaminant between the shoe and the floor
• when a foot hits a low obstacle in its path – causing a loss of balance

According to Injury Facts², falls, slips and trips were the 3rd most prevalent causes of injury and illnesses involving days away from work in 2020 in the US. In the UK alone, slipping and tripping cost employers over £500m per year³ – in compensation and lost time. Accidents are expensive!

Most accidents are preventable

The simplest way of preventing work-related injuries in your workplace, is to develop a risk management plan which can identify, assess, control and monitor safety hazards and risks.

Prevent Slips, Trips and Falls – Top 5 tips

1. Identify the potential causes – To reduce the risks of an accident occuring, identify the causes. Typically, they include: uneven floor surfaces, wet floors, poor lighting and other tripping hazards.
2. Implement good housekeeping – Good housekeeping procedures are critical for all kinds of businesses. If your property´s housekeeping habits are substandard, the result might be a higher number of employee injuries and accidents. Three simple steps to developing a good housekeeping strategy are: plan ahead, assign responsibilities and implement an effective housekeeping program.
3. Deal with wet surfaces quickly – Walking on slippery and wet surfaces can be particularly dangerous, especially on low-friction materials such as metal, steel and wood. Areas exposed to mud, oil, chemicals, water, grease etc. are all at risk – including exposed walkways, stairs and floors.
4. Avoid creating obstacles in aisles and walkways – Maintaining clearly defined spaces for employee movement is essential when it comes to preventing accidents from occuring, particularly with regards to tripping. Implement clean-up procedures to ensure that walkways are always kept uncluttered. Best practice strategies include: keeping work areas, storage rooms and passages clear; avoiding stringing cables across walkways and conducting regular inspections for potential hazards.
5. Maintain proper lighting – Poor lighting in the workplace is an extremely common issue that contributes to the number of accidents. Make sure that you: Use proper lighting in walkways, staircases, and other commonly accessed areas; keep all work areas well lit: deal with ineffective or broken lighting as soon as possible and keep light switches easily accesbile and within easy reach.

Securing your worksite, using appropriate safety measures to prevent accidents, is essential. To know more about safety solutions and accident prevention in your work environment, please contact us.

1 https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/falls
2 https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/work/work-overview/top-work-related-injury-causes/
3 https://www.hse.gov.uk/slips/costs.htm