What are some of the best practices for preventing slips, trips, and falls in the workplace?

One best practices that I normally do when assigned to carry out a particular task, is before starting my job I do a walk around Inspection to identify any potential hazard. Most common are those associated with poor house keeping. Poor house keeping is what I believe to be a major contributor to Slip, Trip and Falls in the work place. So I like to do a bit of house keeping before I actually start working and also during the task, I like to keep things inorder so that they don't pose any danger to me or my fellow co-workers. And once the job is completed I like to do a final proper house keeping for the incoming crew to eliminate any additional risk of Slips, Trips and Falls.

When you are working in a company with a staff base of more than 100 employees, you need to be extra careful in the matter of cleanliness especially in the areas that are prone to get wet. For example the washrooms. Having experience in Administration of more than a decade now, i have learnt that by following some very basic practices, one can make the workplace a much better place if it is clean and tidy. Where ever i have worked in my career, i have made sure to keep the areas like washrooms, kitchen, play areas etc always tidy and clean with the help of proper cleaning staff. As they say "Prevention is better than cure", giving precautionary reminders and short tutorials on "Self Management" in those critical areas helps alot.

As leadership, can have a scheduled Gemba walk with your teams with the purpose of safety (Safety walk) as to give the priority with safety, to identify safety risks, hazards at your work place.

Some of the useful ways to prevent/ reduce slips, trips & fall are: 1. Ensuring a spacious & unobstructed walkway with proper indication signage. 2. Proper housekeeping and cable management. 3. Ensuring a non-slippery surface. 4. Ensuring proper illumination. 5. Frequent inspection, monitoring of the workplace and reporting. 6. Conducting regular awareness/ training. 7. Relevant promotional activities ( such as : rewards for good housekeeping and unobstructed access/ egress). 8. Implementation of BBS programme will also help in this aspect. 9. Safe design of the ramps,stairs & other access/ egress way in compliance with the industrial codes. 10. Ensuring usage of appropriate footwears.

Kiewit’s First Rule of Safety is “Never walk past an unsafe act or condition.” Employees are empowered to immediately address the issue or tell a supervisor. Why? To immediately correct whatever. One of the finest safety solutions ever!

It is important to not overlook the need for proper footwear in order to reduce risks. People often prioritize style and status over comfort and safety. However, appropriate footwear plays a crucial role in ensuring your safety, stability, and overall well-being in the workplace. This does not mean sacrificing style, but rather being mindful of the location and situation when making footwear choices.

In my experience communication is key. Engage in workplace accident scenarios to make employees think outside the box. Involve all employees

In addition one must see to it that their PPE's must be intact, fixed everything before commencing to work to avoid accidentally hanging up to some protruding object around that causes someone out of balance and fall.

It’s important that all workers are involved in maintaining a safe workplace ! No one is too important not to participate. If anyone notices a negative situation correct it. Don’t just walk by and hope nothing bad happens.

It is important that staff are properly trained to use tools according to safety guidelines. This also means that supervisors need to pay close attention to ensure that workers are following the guidelines appropriately. It is the duty of the employee to report any faulty equipment, and it is the duty of the employer to ensure the maintenance of the equipment. Proper maintenance can avoid occupational injuries and diseases. Improper use of PPEs also can contribute to slips, trips and falls. Finally, proper signage is also important to relay any hazards both to workers and visitors/public.

For preventing slip and trip must have antislip strep in staircase and review the type of safety shoes from bottom where must be grasped layer to not slipping so, must review the type of safety shoes yearly to prevent this type of accident because slip and trip are danger impacts on backbone and full body

Put attention colouring anti-slip taping on the first 3 steps and the last 3 steps. That way the natural attention pulling mechanism is drawn to stairs at the right time as usually there is a mobile device, papers or you reorient your self to where you are going next after the stairs when you are nearing the end of stairs. Also make a company practise that nothing is done in the stairs even while stopping there and doing it. First you move out of the stair area and then do other things and actively move conversations with customers etc politely to the end of the stairs.

While reporting incidents is and will always be crucial for learning; you need to ask yourself. How much will I learn from this strip and trip case before your really invest in a big investigation. While most organization direct the level of their investigation based on the consequence of the outcome, it should be directed toward "learning potential". You might face a tripping accident in which an employee broke his leg, but it was just like that! He/she tripped in a staircase that was good, was holding the handrail, good footwear, everything good! yet he/she still tripped! Another case an employee tripped but with minor injuries but was attributed to a level change in grating due to bad design. Which case should you investigate thoroughly?

Reporting incidents is vital for a safe workplace. It fosters transparency, aids early intervention, and gathers data for analysis. Learning from incidents prevents recurrences, ensures legal compliance, and supports continuous improvement. Reporting empowers employees, prioritizes well-being, informs management, and creates a culture of safety. It's not about blame but improvement, contributing to a safer work environment for all.

Getting people onboard of doing safety observations you need to get supervisors and managers onboard as well. What has been done to an safety observation after supervisor is vital to be communicated to the employee as well as to the whole personnel of the organisation. This increases transparency, employees feeling that he/she can make a difference and pushes supervisors to do their work. Personnel info i s a good place to tell what has been done even or perhaps especially the minor things as these can be affected more easily. Feedback culture is a must here as well.

Enforcing a Housekeeping Plan - Clear expectations, designated storage, and regular inspections are vital. Contractor engagement is crucial. Training and Dedicated Personnel - Contractors receive vital training on housekeeping's significance. Dedicated personnel enforce cleaning. Effective Communication - Leverage communication channels for seamless coordination. Relay critical information to contractors' management for a shared safety commitment. Sustaining Resources and Performance - Allocate tools and facilities for effective maintenance. Routine inspections verify functionality. Enforcement and Accountability - Safety commitment includes enforcement. Non-Conformance Reports are issued for non-compliance, reinforcing our dedication.

It’s important to approach workplace safety through the lenses of compliance, intervention, and respecting rights. Complying with safety regulations helps prevent incidents like slips, trips, and falls. Intervening means taking proactive measures to identify and address potential hazards. Respecting employees’ rights involves providing proper training, equipment, and an environment that values their safety and well-being. This holistic approach ensures a safer workplace for everyone.

Hazard recognition is key. When encountering conditions where falls are more prevalent, safety has to stress the need to recognize the hazard and adjust for the conditions. Maintaining 3 points of contact when ascending and descending, especially on stairs, which are encountered in many workplaces on a regular basis, is also a best practice. Ramps present a serious hazard in the workplace and cause many falls in the trucking industry. Proper training in there use, deployment, and safe work methods on ramps need to be taught from day one to develop good habits.

Ensure adequate sleep each night, as an employee with a sleep debt has impaired gross motor skills and poor spatial awareness. This may cause slips and trips with inadequate placement of footings and head (and body) strikes from not judging obstacles in the employee's vicinity. Further to adequate sleep, employees in sedentary positions should stretch out every hour or so, as major muscles contract from non-use. Then when the employee gets up to walk around, their muscles do not work properly, causing stumbling and missed footings. Sit up, stretch, get up, stretch some more and when feeling fully stretched, get back to work.

Additionally, adding effective signages through the utilization of warning signs and hazard tapes to temporarily mark wet or slippery areas and making sure the workers understand the meaning of these signs. Conducting routine safety inspections to identify and promptly address potential hazards and training workers in safe work practices