04 July 2008
Bridget Leathley

A slip injury often doesn't sound very dramatic, but some result in months or years of pain, restricted movement and loss of earnings. In one case reported on the HSE website, a woman had her leg amputated following complications that set in after a fall on a wet floor.

Around 11,000 workers were seriously injured as a result of a slip or a trip last year, making it the single most common cause of major injury.

Slip and trip injuries are most common in public administration, health and social care, and manufacturing, with construction a close fourth. Construction leads the league table for major injuries resulting from falls from height, accounting for more than a quarter of the UK total. Transport, manufacturing and retail make up the rest of the top four. More detailed statistics can be found in the slips and falls areas of the HSE website at www.hse.gov.uk/slips and www.hse.gov.uk/falls

Despite the statistics, slips, trips and falls still seem to be a Cinderella subject for many people. On a recent first-aid course I attended, not one of the other 15 delegates, from a mixture of office, education, construction and transport environments, mentioned slips, trips or falls as a type of accident they expected to deal with.

Falls from height remain the most common kind of fatal accident in UK workplaces. HSE figures show 45 workers died following a fall from height and 3750 were seriously injured last year.

Word for word

The key legislation concerning falls from height is the Work at Height Regulations (SI 735, 2005 and amendment SI 114, 2007). While there is no single piece of legislation applicable to slips, trips and falls, the TUC summarises the relevant laws in the "slips, trips and falls" chapter of Hazards at Work: Organising for Safe and Healthy Workplaces. From www.tuc.org.uk, select "health and safety" then "slips, trips and falls" and find the link in the green box.

There's a useful summary of the Work at Height Regulations, along with references to the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations (Management Regulations), the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations (Workplace Regulations), the Health and Safety at Work Act (HSW Act) and the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations. There's a link to the full text of the Work at Height Regulations, or you can go to www.opsi.gov.uk to read any of the sets of regulations mentioned.

The TUC summary doesn't mention the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations (SI 2966, 1992) but you may need to consult these, for example when considering the non-slip nature of protective footwear or assessing harnesses for work at height. The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (SI 2306, 1998) have also been used to prosecute companies for inadequate scaffolding.

The free leaflets area of the HSE website - choose "free leaflets" at www.hse.gov.uk/pubns, then "f" in the A-Z menu for "falls from height" - has a long list of linked leaflets on falls, including a brief guide to the Work at Height Regulations (INDG 401) as well as guidance for window cleaners, teachers and ladder users. In the list of slips and trips leaflets (choose "s" in the A-Z menu for "slips, trips and falls"), Preventing Slips and Trips at Work (INDG 225) includes a brief summary of the applicability of the Management Regulations, the Workplace Regulations and the HSW Act. This is also available as a "talking leaflet", where the leaflet is read out, word for word.

Spot the error

The examples of slips, trips and falls in catering, retail, manufacturing, maintenance and construction on the HSE's "Shattered Lives" site - which aims to support the executive's current campaign to manage down slip, trip and fall accidents in those sectors (see Stay in one piece) - focus on the consequences and are short on the detail of what actually happened. But they are useful to help you understand that an "injury" doesn't just mean a few days with your leg up in front of the TV and then back to normal. It's best to look at the Flash version of the website, as some links don't work in the PowerPoint version.

The "case studies" in the slips area of the HSE site include accounts of real incidents in kitchens, supermarkets, workshops and hospitals, some accompanied by (poor quality) video clips of slip and trip victims. You can find further examples under "causes of slips and trips", and these are grouped by hazard management approach (flooring, cleaning, human factors). In the "campaigns" section, the "stop slips in kitchens" and "watch your step in education" links offer case studies specific to these sectors. In the education campaign, the photographs in the PowerPoint presentation on floor cleaning could be useful to illustrate good and bad practice in other industries too.

In the construction area of the HSE website, select "falls and trips in construction" and scroll down to "real examples of good and bad practice" under the title "sensible approach" for examples illustrated with photographs. If they are relevant to your industry, these may be more useful in training than the text accounts in the slips area.

Falls from height are the second largest cause of fatal accidents in agriculture (after transport) and the agriculture section of the HSE site provides short summaries of a range of fall accidents on farms. The US National Agricultural Safety Database provides detailed case studies, with analysis of what could
have prevented the accidents, which would make useful discussion points in a training course. Start at www.cdc.gov/nasd and select "by topic" then "ladder safety".

Whatever sector you work in, look at the HSE pages specific to your industry to see if there is a slips and trips or falls section, as these industry-specific examples are not always linked from the slips and falls topic areas.
If you're looking for examples of prosecutions and fines resulting from slip, trip and fall accidents, the UK government news distribution service is worth a visit. At http://nds.coi.gov.uk select the "advanced search" function to limit the "departments and agencies" to the "Health and Safety Executive", then type what you're looking for in the "keywords" field. If you search for "Everest" and select the press release of 30 April 2008 about the prosecution of the double-glazing firm, you will find a photo of some unacceptable scaffolding which might be useful for a "spot the errors" training session.

The HSE prosecutions database lists "working at height" and "slips and trips" under "examples of enforcement", or you can do your own search of "prosecutions and notices", limiting results to a particular industry.

HSW's sister website www.healthandsafetyprofessional.co.uk contains an archive of articles and news published in HSW over the past three years, including features on slip-resistant footwear, working on fragile roofs and safe ladder use. You can find the "slips, trips and falls" and "work at height" areas via the "safety" menu on the homepage, or search using a key word, such as "slips", to find the latest news, prosecutions and features.

Totally floored

The HSE Slips Assessment Tool (SAT) is free software that enables you to assess the slip potential of pedestrian walkway surfaces. You enter information about the floor (what it's made of, how it's cleaned, how rough it is) and the tool produces an assessment of slip potential. You can download the tool at www.hsesat.info.

The Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw) offers a broader approach. From www.usdaw.org.uk select "helpful resources" then "health and safety" and "risk mapping for slips and trips". This looks like an excellent and transparent method of collecting accident data, anecdotal near-misses and observations in one useful document, which can be used as the basis for controlling hazards. Its use shouldn't be limited to union safety reps.

The HSE proposes a six-element model for managing slip and trip risks and provides advice under each of the headings; see "causes of slips and trips" in the HSE slips area.

Under one the of the elements - flooring - the HSE lists (but does not endorse) suppliers of floor roughness measuring tools (needed to use the SAT tool). Two link to US sites, but http://www.taylor-hobson.com/surtronicduo.htm is UK-based and includes a video showing how to use the Taylor Hobson Surtronic Duo.

If you'd rather get someone to measure the slipperiness of your floors for you, go to the Health and Safety Laboratory's site at www.hsl.gov.uk and find "pedestrian safety" in the A-Z index.

For a more futuristic look at the problems of slippery floors, including the potential of self-cleaning floors, go to the BRE's site and look at its work on "Biomimetics" (under "B" in the "A to Z of services").

Look, listen, learn

When it comes to getting the message across about the risks, the HSE has some free posters you can download from the Shattered Lives and Watch Your Step websites and personalise with your organisation's contact details.

The US Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) site has an area devoted to helping young people work more safely in restaurants. This includes information, free downloadable posters and quizzes. It's hard to find from the OSHA site but easier from www.youth2work.gov: select "for teen workers" then scroll down to "teen worker safety in restaurants".

If you don't mind paying for posters, RoSPA has some you can use to encourage people to take action to reduce slips and trips and falls; see www.rospa.com/falls. More wordy posters can be purchased from www.seton.co.uk - search for "OMP10". Learn Direct has a 20-minute online introductory-level course covering slips, trips and falls. From www.learndirect.com select "business" then "buy a course online" and find "avoiding slips, trips and falls" under the "health and safety" heading in the "choose a course" pull-down menu. Safety Media's e-learning product includes a working at height module; see www.safetylearning.co.uk.

The HSE falls site has a downloadable video (select "downloads" then "maintenance video") targeted at those carrying out maintenance activities who may sometimes have to work at height. Although it's a little out of date (referring to 2004-5 figures) and obscured by too many bullet points repeating the spoken commentary, the video is nevertheless useful, outlining how to plan, avoid, select, train, inspect and supervise work at height in maintenance.

An increasing amount of information available on websites is in sound only. The quality varies, but if you like listening instead of looking, try:

• "audio & video" clips under "resource centre" in the HSE slips area
• RRC Training's podcasts on "falls from vehicles" (April 2008), "slips" (January 2008) and working at height (September 2007), available at www.rrc.co.uk/Podcasts.aspx

Slips and falls by definition

The Work at Height Regulations (Regulation 2) define "work at height" as "a) work in any place, including a place at or below ground level; (b) obtaining access to or egress from such place while at work, except by a staircase in a permanent workplace, where ... a person could fall a distance liable to cause personal injury."

"Slips" and "trips" are defined more clearly on US sites than UK ones. A slip is defined as "a loss of balance caused by too little friction between our feet and the surface that you walk or work on", while a trip is "whenever your foot hits an object and you are moving with enough momentum to be thrown off balance"; see, for example, www.workforcesafety.com/safety/sops/SlipsTripsFallsSample1.pdf

Categories:
Safety, Article, Slips, trips, and falls