Preventing Slips, Trips, and Falls in the Workplace
Know what slips, trips, and falls are, their causes, existing regulations, and how to prevent them.
Safety
Top 10 workplace safety statistics
Know what slips, trips, and falls are, their causes, existing regulations, and how to prevent them.
Slips, trips, and falls are among the most common hazards in the workplace. They put many workers at risk of sprains, strains, cuts, bruises, fractures, and other injuries. At worst, they can also lead to death, especially in high-risk occupations such as construction. However, with adequate training and safety practices, companies can keep their personnel safe from these hazards.
For context, slips occur when there’s little to no traction between the footwear and the walking surface, causing a person to lose their balance. On the other hand, tripping happens when a person’s foot hits an object or steps down to a lower, uneven surface. Any of the two can disrupt a person’s balance and make them lose their footing.
Lastly, falls (being the leading cause of fatalities among construction workers) can happen to anyone if they stumble and fall too far off their center balance. This commonly occurs for those working at heights.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports alarming rates of slip, trip, and fall incidents in 2022. Their most recent data show that slips, trips, and falls are among the top causes of fatal and non-fatal injuries in the workplace:
Fatal Injuries – The rate of work-related fatalities caused by slips, trips, and falls was up by 1.8% in 2022 (equating to 865 cases).
Non-Fatal Injuries – Slips, trips, and falls cases ranked third among the top employer-reported workplace injuries in 2022, involving days away from work.
Slips, trips, and falls can happen for many reasons from uneven working surfaces and unsafe ladder positions to wet floors and poor lighting. Understanding these causes is critical, as slips, trips, and falls result in over 1 million emergency room visits each year and account for 18% of nonfatal workplace injuries that lead to days away from work. Key risk factors include wet or slippery surfaces, inadequate lighting, cluttered walkways, and improper footwear.
Here are the causes and risk factors for each:
Wet spills (e.g., water, mud, grease, oil, food, blood, etc.)
Dry product spills (e.g., powder, dust, wood chips, granules, plastic wraps)
Weather hazards (e.g., ice, snow)
Concrete, ceramic tile, or marble floors
Sloped or uneven walking surfaces
Wet, muddy, greasy shoes
Ramps or planks without skid- or slip-resistant surfaces
Climbing ladders
Clutter on the floor
Obstructed view
Poor lighting
Uncovered cables, wires, hoses, and extension cords
Open drawers, cabinets, doors, etc.
Uneven walkways
Unmarked steps or ramps
Missing floor tiles and bricks
Weak or damaged ladders
Ledges without proper railing
Carrying heavy objects
Failure to use guardrails on scaffolding
Unprotected edges
Unsafely positioned ladders
Misused fall protection and height access equipment
To give you a comprehensive idea, here’s a list of the most frequently occurring injuries associated with slips, trips, and falls hazards:
Sprains and strains – When a person slips or trips and tries to catch themselves or regain balance, they may twist or stretch their muscles or ligaments, leading to sprains or strains.
Fractures and broken bones – Falling from a height or landing forcefully on a hard surface can cause fractures or breaks in bones of the wrists, hips, and ankles.
Contusions and bruises – Impacts with the ground or objects during a fall can cause contusions, commonly known as bruises, from damaged blood vessels beneath the skin.
Head injuries – Falls that involve striking the head on a hard surface can cause traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), which can range from mild concussions to more severe cases.
Cuts and lacerations – Falls may involve contact with sharp or rough objects, leading to cuts and lacerations.
Back and spinal cord injuries (SCI) – Falls that involve landing on the back or experiencing a jarring impact can cause damage to the spine, such as herniated discs, spinal fractures, or spinal cord injuries.
Neck injuries – These are sometimes a result of spinal injuries or damage to the muscles, ligaments, or tendons in the neck.
The Occupational Safety and Health Standards 1910 Subpart D (Walking-Working Surfaces) provides general standards for walking-working surfaces, such as passageways, warehouses, storage rooms, service rooms, and working areas.
The 1910.22 Regulations outline several points for safe working surfaces, including the following:
Keep workroom floors clean, orderly, and dry.
Provide safe means of entering and exiting from walking surfaces.
Inspect the working surface to keep it in good condition.
Repair hazardous floors as soon as possible.
Fortunately, most slip, trip, and fall incidents are avoidable. By using the right safety tools and training employees, companies can prevent these incidents from happening. Here are some ways to prevent slips, trips, and falls in the workplace:
How to Prevent Slips Trips and Falls in the Workplace
Practicing good housekeeping – A slip-free workspace begins with housekeeping. Removing clutter helps tidy up the floor and makes it walkable for everyone in the workplace.
Providing adequate lighting in walking areas – Workers can navigate through spaces better if there is enough light. Given this, it’s best to place proper lighting in access and egress points such as halls, ramps, stairs, and exits.
Installing safety signs – Doing so warns people about walking in hazardous spaces to keep them safe. For example, construction safety uses warning lines, control zones, and designated areas to mark which areas are passable or restricted.
Cleaning spills immediately – Proper cleaning ensures that the floor is free from hazardous elements so that people can walk safely. To keep water from the floor, you may also consider various dewatering methods and equipment such as a sump pump.
Making sure proper footwear is worn – Non-slip shoes with good traction protect workers from static electricity, falling objects, explosions, exposure to hazardous substances, and other risks.
Maintaining and improving floor quality – Modifying the floor space can go a long way to ensure safety from slips, trips, and falls. Fall protection can be improved by inspecting floors regularly and investing in non-slippery flooring options, among others.
Implementing safety plans and protocols – A well-thought-out safety plan cements all efforts in promoting fall protection, especially in high-risk workspaces. This plan must include in-depth risk assessments, safety standards and practices, training, regular inspections, equipment guidelines, and toolbox talks.
OSHA provides guidelines on safe working surfaces that companies can integrate into their safety plan (check this table for the distance requirements for fall protection). Also, OSHA includes specifications for safety equipment such as harnesses, lines, safety nets, stair railings, handrails, and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
Using powerful solutions helps organizations improve their overall safety management processes and ensure everything is well-accounted for in the workplace.
A workplace operations platform like Mitti (by SafetyCulture) is an all-in-one digital solution that you can use to streamline your fall protection efforts. It offers tools to help you manage fall safety inspections, provide OSHA safety and construction toolbox talks, other related toolbox talk templates, and more. Use Mitti (by SafetyCulture) to do the following:
Conduct an efficient workplace risk assessment following a structure using a template from the Public Library.
Ensure fall safety measures are being implemented by performing inspections using mobile devices.
Capture equipment and work surface issues in detail with annotations and photos and attach them to reports.
Proactively identify and manage fall hazards by raising them as issues and actions promptly.
Communicate inspection findings and hazard information to key stakeholders and employees by generating and sharing custom PDF, Word, and Weblink reports.
Enhance safety practices by benchmarking the historical performance of the organization as well as addressing recurring safety concerns using the Analytics dashboard.
To get you started, here are pre-made checklists and templates you can use for your slips, trips, and falls safety management processes:
