Slips, trips and falls result in thousands of injuries every year. A recent report from Safe Work Australia shows that these accidents account for 23 per cent of workplace injuries.

But, you have an opportunity to minimise these types of incidents in your workplace. Subsequently through identifying hazards, assessing risks and implementing safety measures you can promote a culture of safety. Here are some ways that you can prevent slips, trips and falls in the workplace.

Identify hazards

Identifying hazards is the first step in determining where slips, trips and falls can or have occurred in your work area. The assessment can be done by talking to workers, supervisors, conducting inspections and reviewing  the previous incident and injury reports; as well as workers’ compensation claims.

The first process in determining fall hazards starts with identifying all locations or tasks in the workplace where slips, trips and falls are a risk factor. Therefore, it is important to inspect your work area thoroughly. Check your work area for crowded spaces and clutter; a work area should be as neat as possible, with everything in its place. Moreover, you also need to check if surfaces are stable, fragile or brittle, as well as if floor surfaces are, or have the potential to be slippery. In addition, being particularly cautious about tasks carried out on sloping or slippery surfaces is important to avoid fall hazards.

Lastly, it is also vital to review available information, including any records of previous injuries and ‘near miss’ incidents relating to falls. In doing so, you help assess how potential injuries can be minimised;therefore, preventing the same events from happening again.

Assess risks

Risk assessments help to pinpoint various factors such as: what could happen if a fall occurs as well as its likelihood of happening again, how severe the risk is and if any previous control measures and actions have proven effective.

However, risk assessment may be unnecessary if the risks have been uncovered and you are aware of how to control these. In the same way, performing a generic risk assessment is needed only if you handle several work areas with similar fall hazards.

Make the necessary adjustments

Below is a list of ways to proactively manage your work environment to help lower the risk of injury:

Keeping walking surfaces clean and clutter-free – Keeping walkways clean and clear will quickly minimise the potential for harm. An unobstructed path helps prevent employees from tripping over unexpected objects.

Reducing wet or slippery surfaces – Using moisture-absorbent mats with bevelled edges will help minimise risks of slips, trips and falls. Ensure that the mats have a non-slip backing material for better grip on the floor.

Installing non-slip or slip-resistant flooring – You may need to assess your current work area to determine whether you need to change your flooring entirely. At Cotewell, we restore floors by increasing their slip resistance. We have a range of flooring options that are safer to tread on and easier to manage.

We provide flooring solutions for your business

Cotewell is a commercial flooring contractor specialising in interior and exterior flooring for industrial, commercial and residential buildings. We also offer other services such as line marking, building painting, and waterproofing.

Our team is available to assist you in any way we can. Contact us today on 1300 590 505 for more information.