Slips and Trips hazards causes risk assessment

Slips and Trips hazards causes and risk assessment

1. Health and Safety
Executive
Watch your step
Controlling slips and trips
risks at work
See it, sort it

2. 2
Slips and trips are funny
Slips and trips accidents are often used in
cartoons and videos to raise a laugh, but ask
a victim if they’re funny.

3. 3
Youth slipped and put hand into
deep-fat fryer - no joking matter
Source: Dudley MBC

4. 4
Not a joking matter
•Reported injuries to employees in GB premises
(2003/4):
–11,269 majors (37% of total Major Injuries)
–30,499 Over-3-days (24% of total over-3-
days)
• Injuries can be severe:
–90% of majors are fractures

5. 5
Costs of slips and trips in GB
•To the individual
–Lost income, pain, reduced quality of life
•To employers over £500m p.a.
–Damages, admin. and insurance, lost
production, temporary absences
•To society over £800m p.a.
–Loss of potential output, medical costs,
social security.

6. 6
HSE Strategic Delivery Programme
(Fit3)
•Slips and Trips Programme Plan
2005 –2008
–PSA Major Injury (MI) reduction target
- 3% by 2008
–S&T Programme MI reduction target
- 5.1% by 2008
- i.e. 575 fewer S&T MI accidents.

7. 7
The food
sector19%
reduction in
major injury
accidents
over 6 years
Key reference
guide:
HS(G)156

8. 8
Slips and Trips Programme Plan
The main messages
•Slips and trips aren’t funny!
•They should be treated seriously and in
proportion to the injuries and losses that they
cause.
•Simple sensible solutions can eliminate
most of the problems, but
•Personal responsibility and worker
participation are essential to make solutions
effective

9. 9
What law?
Health & Safety at Work etc. Act 1974
(HSW Act)
Workplace (Health, Safety & Welfare)
Regulations 1992 (Workplace Regs.)
Management of Health & Safety at Work
Regulations 1999 (Management Regs.)
Construction Health Safety and Welfare
Regulations 1996 (Construction HSW Regs)

10. 10
Management Regulations
•Employers to assess the risks (including slips & trips
risks) to employees and others who may be affected
by their work or business
•To enable identification of the measures they need to
take to comply with health & safety law

11. 11
What contributes to the slip/ trip risk?
Floor
Environment
Slip/ trip
Potential
Contamination
Obstacles
People Footwear

12. 12
What is risk assessment?
•Systematic and careful examination of things (at
work) which could cause harm to people
•Evaluation of whether the controls in place are
sufficient to prevent harm

13. 13
Risk assessment - the 5 steps
1.Identify the hazards
2.Decide who may be harmed
3.Evaluate the risks and decide if the existing
precautions are adequate
4.Record the significant findings
5.Review the assessment periodically

14. 14
The most important bit…
•Take remedial action when the controls are
insufficient to prevent harm
•It’s the ACTION as a result of the risk
assessment process that matters

15. 15
Workplace (H,S,W) Regulations
Floors/traffic routes:
•To be of a construction that is suitable for
purpose
•To have no hole or slope, or be uneven or
slippery so as to expose any person to a risk
to their safety
•To have effective drainage where necessary
These requirements for floor construction are
all ‘ABSOLUTE’.

16. 16
Workplace Regs. cont.
•So far as reasonably practicable, floors/traffic
routes to be kept free from obstructions and
substances likely to cause a person to slip,
trip or fall
•Staircases to be provided with suitable and
sufficient handrails
•Waste materials not allowed to accumulate,
except in suitable receptacles

17. 17
Slip hazards
•Leaks, spills and splashes of liquids & solids
•Wet processes
•Unsuitable floors
•Unsuitable footwear for floor
•Rain, mud
•Unsuitable entrance matting
•Sloping surfaces
•Wet floors following cleaning

18. 18

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20. 20
Risk controls
(a) floor contamination
•Contamination from work activities/
environment controlled
•Process plant controlled and maintained
•Spillages cleaned up
•Correct cleaning regime
From both liquids and solids

21. 21
Don’t forget…
•The Workplace Regs. Approved
Code of Practice (ACOP)
–Processes & plant which
discharge or leak liquids should
be enclosed
–If a leak or spillage is likely to
cause a slipping hazard
immediate steps should be
taken to treat it

22. 22
Containing spillages from machines

23. 23
Use of signs and barriers

24. 24
Risk controls (b) suitable floors
and footwear
Floors not slippery
Appropriate use of:
Mats
Anti-slip treatments/ coatings
Drainage
Grids, gratings, duckboards etc.
Required footwear slip-resistant

25. 25
Good design of steps

26. 26
Role of slip-resistant footwear
•Have a ‘sensible shoe’ policy
•If needed as PPE, employer to provide
•Challenge the supplier to provide the right shoe for
your floor/ contaminant
•See HSG156 – food guidance
•Consider sole material, tread pattern>>>

27. 27
Features of slip-resistant soles (source:
SATRA 1997)

28. 28
Assessing slipperiness
•Accident history – “eg slip/ trip incident map”
•Observation/ questioning
–S&T occur often but only 1 in 40 result in
serious problems – so evidence should be
easy to spot.
•Smooth floors – measure surface micro-
roughness
–ie like writing paper NOT sandpaper
•Dynamic Coefficient of Friction (CoF)

29. 29
Measuring coefficient of friction –
pendulum method
•Produces correct fluid dynamics
•Realistic CoF readings in wet and dry
•See ‘The assessment of pedestrian slip risk – the
HSE approach’ – slips and trips 1 - on
http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/web/slips01.pdf

30. 30
Pendulum in action – dry CoF reading

31. 31
Extract from UKSRG 2005
31
Extract from UKSRG 2005
UK Slip Resistance Group Guidelines available from Malcolm
Bailey, Secretary 01923 858323
PTV of 36 = CoF 0.36
LowLow36 to 6536 to 65
ModerateModerate25 to 3525 to 35
HighHigh24 and below24 and below
Potential for Slip Potential for Slip Pendulum Test Value Pendulum Test Value
(PTV)(PTV)

32. 32
Minimum levels of surface roughness to
prevent slips – from FIS 22
.
.
.
 

33. 33
The slips assessment tool (SAT)
Software-based. Operator feeds in:
•Surface roughness readings
•Floor type
•Contamination type/ amount/ source/
recurrence
•Footwear type
•Cleaning regime/ frequency
•Persons using floor
•Environmental factors
System give slip risk factor 0-40+

34. 34
Risk controls
(c) prevention of trips
•Floors even, free from holes or slopes;
•Gangways well-planned and marked;
•Access routes kept clear
•Stairs well-constructed, with handrails
•Good lighting

35. 35
Common trip hazards
•Loose floor and scaffold boards / tiles
•Loose and worn mats / carpets
•Accumulated waste materials
•Electrical & telephone socket outlets
•Trailing cables, pallets, tools, etc. in
gangways

36. 36

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43. 43
Factors increasing the risk of
slips and trips
•Moving goods – carrying, pushing, pulling
•Rushing about
•Distractions / fatigue

44. 44
HSE research
•Testing different floorings for slipperiness in
the wet
•Slipperiness test methods development
•Testing slip-resistant footwear
•The role of human factors in slips and trips
accidents

45. 45
Managing slips and trips :
having a good system
•Planning
–Key risk areas and goals
•Organisation
–Involvement and responsibilities
•Control
–Checks, records
•Monitor and Review
–Accident and inspection reports

46. 46
Managing slips and trips contd./
Simple measures can give quick returns. Some
pointers:
•Ensure S & T included in risk assessment
•Prompt reporting and follow-up of leaks
•Operate a ‘clean as you go’ policy
•Allocate responsibilities for cleaning up
•Get workforce ‘buy in’ to these
Consider a campaign to reduce S & T>>>>

47. 47
Requirements for a successful
campaign
•Backing from the top
•Good preparation and communication
•Workforce involvement and commitment, eg in:
–Preparing briefing materials
–Risk assessments
–Accident/ near miss investigations
•Targets/ monitoring
•Perseverance

48. 48
Further advice and guidance
•Workplace health, safety and welfare – ACOP and
guidance L24
•Slips and trips – guidance for employers on identifying
hazards and controlling risks HSG155
•Preventing slips and trips at work INDG 225 rev1 (free
leaflet)
•HSE free information sheets: Food nos. 6 and 22,
Catering no. 6, Education no. 2, Health Services no. 2,
Slips and trips – the importance of floor cleaning – slips
and trips 2
•HSE Stop Slips video
•See www.hse.gov.uk/slips/index.htm

49. 49
Summary
•Slips and trips are NOT a trivial matter
•Risks need to be actively managed
•Include S & T specifically in risk assessment
•Involve the workforce
•Solutions can be cheap and simple, but
must….
•Maintain standards through….
•Monitoring, audit, review