Watch your step

Slips, trips and falls are associated with more fatalities and major injuries to workers than any other kind of accident – and that makes their prevention a pressing management concern. For Stuart Turnbull, UK MD at Honeywell Safety Products, the central challenge facing those responsible for managing health and safety is to identify and place control and accident prevention measures into work environments. He adds: "One of the essential components of any slip, trip and fall management programme is housekeeping – with work areas needing to be kept free of any hazards that could create a potential problem." Indeed, the main causes of slips, trips and falls at work are trailing cables or debris, as well as uneven floor surfaces, poor lighting and wet floors. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) offers a wealth of information and useful resources to help manage the risks. See: www.hse.gov.uk/SLIPS/index.htm The HSE insists on a hierarchy of activity when managing workplace hazards. Risks should be reduced to the lowest reasonably practicable level by taking preventative measures, in the following order: ? Eliminate: Redesign the job so that the hazard is removed or eliminated. For example, avoid the need to work at height where possible. ? Substitute: Replace the material or process with a less hazardous one. For example, it might be appropriate to use a small work platform to access work at height instead of a step ladder. Take care to ensure the alternative is safer than the original. ? Engineering controls: Use work equipment or other measures to, for example, prevent falls where you can't avoid working at height. Prioritise measures that protect collectively over individual measures. ? Administrative controls: These are all about identifying and implementing the procedures you need to work safely. For example, use safety signage if there is a spillage and perform appropriate risk assessments. Personal protective equipment (PPE) is the last line of defence, but where it does prove to be necessary, it's essential that you invest time researching the right solutions for the environment. One way to minimise slips, trips and falls risks is to equip workers with safety footwear. Safety footwear was originally designed for physical protection. That need still exists, but other requirements – for example, stability, fitting, weight and style – can also impact on accident reduction and should be considered during the selection process. For Honeywell, two factors in particular relate to slips, trips and falls: ? Sole performance: If slip performance is critical, consider sole units that have an indicator system with a colour change to highlight when the sole tread is wearing down. A sole unit with shallow tread and without deep self-cleaning cleats is likely to become clogged, increasing the risk of having an accident. ? Comfort: Heavy, cumbersome or inflexible safety footwear can increase the chances of foot fatigue and, in turn, the chance of a slip, trip or fall. The latest innovations include insoles which accommodate different foot widths and use comfort foam for improved fit. Also consider anti-foot fatigue features such as foot arch supports. Turnbull adds: "We spend a lot of time working with companies directly to understand their business and observe the specific hazards they face in order to inform research and product development... Tap into the knowledge and expertise of leading safety footwear manufacturers to aid the selection process." Nick McLaren, product and procurement manager for footwear at Arco, says selecting the right footwear is a balancing act: "In manufacturing, you need to be looking for the product that will give you the highest slip resistance, but also offer sufficient protection, comfort and durability." For example, he says, a soft sole is best for slip resistance, but, if there is swarf on the floor, it will become embedded into a soft compound rubber sole and you'll find yourself walking on steel which cancels out slip resistance. So, a harder compound rubber might be more appropriate in this case. McLaren adds: "The mistake that certain companies have made in the past is to realise that they have a slip problem on site and then simply look at the most slip-resistant product – normally a lightweight shoe that wouldn't necessarily afford the protection required. That's why it's important to look at everything together to come up with the best product for the job." Appropriate matting can also help protect against slips, trips and falls. As Lee Wright, marketing director of Slingsby, says: "Most serious slip injuries happen indoors and are due to contaminants, such as water or grease, finding their way on to floors. "Obviously, the areas around outside doors are most likely to get wet as water is brought in on the soles of shoes and this becomes more common during autumn and winter. "UK workplaces spend millions of pounds on personal injury claims as a result of employees and visitors slipping or tripping on their premises." However, he has often walked into buildings in wet weather and seen water all over the floor, highlighting the inadequacy of the entrance matting. "It's ridiculous that so many people are injured as a result of poor matting and no organisation should face the risks and hassle of someone having an accident for the sake of investing in a new mat." Physical protection, including footwear and floor coverings, is important, but, for McLaren, training is also critical: "You can supply the best protection that is perfect for the environment, but you must take the person into consideration, too. "There is an important education process to make people aware of the potential dangers on the shopfloor. For example, people walk differently and perform different tasks such as lifting and carrying, which affect their exposure to risk and they need to be made aware of the potential hazards." For hazards associated with slips, trips and falls, formal health and safety training can be supplemented by signs, which help educate people about how to tackle the risks, giving examples and measures that can be taken. And warning signs – such as 'Wet floor' and 'Trip hazard' – help to alert people to potential dangers so that they can avoid them. For more information, visit: ? www.arco.co.uk ? www.honeywellsafety.com ? www.slingsby.com Avoiding slip-ups Slips and trips risks can include: ? Chilled rooms suffering from condensation and causing wet floors ? Poor housekeeping resulting in spillages of oil and/or water ? Pallets strewn across floors, or hoses not rewound ? A poor appreciation of personal risk by staff ? Poor ergonomic design of certain work areas ? Inappropriate footwear ? Floors not designed to cope with the operating environment The following actions can help mitigate these risks: ? Involve the workforce in a risk assessment process, identifying solutions and priorities. Set a budget and establish a plan to tackle the most significant hazards and tackle the highest risks first ? Provide housekeeping training along with awareness sessions on the significance and dangers of slips and trips ? Implement 'safe behaviour' workshops with an emphasis on collective ownership of health and safety and empowerment of the workforce to intervene to tackle hazards and risks ? Employ a 'place for everything and everything in its place' housekeeping regime ? Consider bringing in flooring consultants to advise on appropriate floor coverings, mats, etc ? Introduce footwear trials in areas subject to unavoidably wet conditions ? Introduce weekly and quarterly safety inspections and supplement these with trained colleagues carrying out daily, planned risk spotting and by near miss/no injury incident reporting