Slips, trips and falls

What are the chances of slipping or tripping at work?

The most common cause of injuries at work is the slip or trip. Resulting falls can be serious. They happen in all kinds of businesses, but sectors such as food and catering report higher than average numbers. It’s a particularly important subject if members of the public use your premises. The estimated cost to employers of all these injuries is over £500 million a year, and insurance only covers a small part of this. Effective solutions are often simple, cheap and lead to other benefits.

Does this concern me?

■ Do you have floors which are, or can become, slippery, eg when wet?

■ Does spillage or contamination occur and is it dealt with quickly?

■ Do people use unlit areas such as paths or yards in the dark?

■ Might temporary work such as maintenance or alterations take place? It could introduce slipping and tripping hazards such as trailing cables.

■ Do you use floor cleaning materials anywhere? Are the right methods and materials being used?

What law applies?

■ Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992

 

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Managing health and safety

Have you got health and safety under control?

Managing health and safety is little different from managing any other aspect of your business. You need to do a risk assessment to find out about the risks in your workplace, put sensible measures in place to control them, and make sure they stay controlled.

A risk assessment is nothing more than a careful examination of what, in your work, could cause harm to people. Risk assessment should be a practical exercise, aimed at getting the right controls in place – keep it simple and put the results into practice. Page 31 of this leaflet gives you step­by­step guidance on how to assess health and safety risks with a minimum of fuss.

Your health and safety policy clearly sets out how you manage health and safety in your workplace by defining who does what; and when and how they do it. On pages 20­30 of this leaflet is an example of a health and safety policy statement that you can fill in and keep at your workplace. Remember, keep it simple and actually put it into practice.

Does this concern me?

■ Did you know all employers and self­employed people have to assess risks at work?

■ Did you know employers with five or more employees should have a written health and safety policy?

■ Did you know employers with five or more employees have to record the significant findings of their risk assessment?

■ Did you know employers have a duty to involve their employees or their employees’ safety representatives on health and safety matters?

■ Did you know employers have to provide free health and safety training or protective equipment for employees where it is needed?

What law applies?

■ Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (risk assessment)

■ Health and Safety (Consultation with Employees) Regulations 1996

■ Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations 1977

3 reasons To Manage Health and Safety in the Work Place

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