Mitigating Slips, Trips and Falls
From cafeterias contending with kitchen grease to sports arenas managing the discarded trash of thousands of fans, UG2 has built expertise across the continuum of facilities in mitigating slips, trips and falls.
As we mark the fourth and final week of National Safety Month, we pulled together some of our most important strategies for preventing these incidents.
Repeat, revisit and reinforce. At the core of preventing slips, trips and falls is recognizing the need for constant fine tuning and reinforcement. You can never remind a person too many times, or in too many ways. Maximizing safety means continuously revisiting workplace safety cultural assessments.
Stay well supplied. From cones, caution tape and readily available ladders and dollies to professional degreasing products and operable radios that allow employees to immediately report hazards, equipment is a key component of every safety plan.
Ensure adequate lighting. A single broken bulb can interfere with people’s ability to see steps, navigate changes in flooring and avoid obstacles and hazards. This basic element of an effective safety plan is easily overlooked because it’s not always handled with the urgency it deserves. We are seeing more and more sensor motion lighting; however, these lights do not always turn on right away when entering a dark space. Make sure the motion sensor has a quick timer and is pointed in the right direction.
Assess and address flooring hazards. Part of your regular safety protocol should include assessing, flagging and mitigating tripping hazards like entryway mats, elevation changes and the intersection of different flooring materials.
Check your signage. You can’t rely on a simple “wet floor” sign to caution passersby. Much like advertising, signs need to catch attention and create enough recognition to change behavior. Make sure signs are secure, easily read, offered in multiple languages, and accompanied by illustrations. The more frequently you change signage the more engenderment you’ll receive.
Keep staffing sufficient. Managing these ever-changing environments means having the right number of employees on hand—and making sure they are trained in all the particulars of that specific facility.
Train staff on JSA and hazard recognition. Facility managers should conduct regular hazard recognition training for all employees, hold refresher courses—and instruct employees on the proper way to handle a situation when peers are reviewing best practices.
Enforce rule about mobile phone use. When employees are walking or working, they should not multitask and remember to pause before taking a call or checking a text. Much like distracted driving, behaviors around cell phone use must be constantly reinforced to be effective. Always have one hand for stair railings!
Implement site best practices. Physical safeguards in a building, campus, or warehouse space can go a long way toward preventing falls. For example, managers with an eye toward safety might install railings on both sides of wide stairways and introduce metal grates in areas where debris and/or water tends to collect.
Integrating these steps into your regular routines can go a long way toward preventing slips, trips and falls. If you have questions about hazard assessments or best practices when it comes to safety, let us know!