Slips and Trips in Food Businesses Campaign 2006/07
Slips and Trips - The Problem!
Slips and trips are often seen as a joke however in reality nothing could be further from the truth. Nationally slips and trips are the most common cause of major injuries at work (33%) and are particularly prevalent in the food and entertainment industry.
This picture is also representative of the Charnwood Borough. In 2004/05 there were 26 reportable slips or trips in the borough accounting for 30% of the accidents reported. In 2005/06 there has been a decrease in the number of accidents reported with 22 reportable slips or trips occurring, but this still accounts for 33% of the accidents reported. In both years approximately 58% of these occurred in food businesses.
The Campaign
In 2006/07 Charnwood Borough Council are carrying out a slips and trips campaign on all food safety inspections at businesses which are also enforced for health and safety by Charnwood Borough Council and are no longer subject to proactive inspections for health and safety. Inspector’s will discuss and assess the arrangements regarding slips and trips at the workplace and how to prevent them. Each business will also be left a slips and trips information pack.
It is estimated that nearly 400 slips and trips assessments in food businesses will be made in 2006/07.
The Legal Requirement
The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 requires that ‘the floor, or surface of the traffic route, shall have no hole or slope, or be uneven or slippery so as, in each case, to expose any person to a risk to his health or safety’ and ‘that so far as is reasonably practicable, every floor surface of every traffic route shall be kept free from obstructions and any article or substance which may cause a person to slip, trip or fall’.
So what do you need to do?
You need to carry out an assessment for all floor surfaces looking at the risk of a slip or a trip occurring, you need to consider environmental, organisation and individual factors in your assessment.
It is true that most slip injuries are on wet or contaminated (e.g. food, oil) floors. Far fewer slips happen on clean, dry floors – so this should be your first aim. When someone slips his or her foot slides on the film of contaminant instead of making firm contact with the floor itself. Don’t forget that dry contaminants, such as dust or plastic bags, can also cause people to slip and fall.
You should organize your business to ensure that people are not put at risk from slipping and tripping. Include the following:
• Can the work be arranged differently to remove some of the risks?
• Have good supervision, instruction and training to promote safe personal behaviour.
• Consider vulnerable people such as the young and the old or people who may be inexperienced or have some impairment.
There are also some practical things that are important to look at. They are set out in order what we call the ‘hierarchy of controls’. Controls at the top of the list should be tried first. This is a summary of those controls -
• Make sure that things like poor lighting or glare don’t prevent people seeing where they are walking.
• Stop the floor getting wet or contaminated in the first place.
• Keep water or contaminants away from walkways.
• Quickly clean up any spillages or contamination that does get onto the floor.
• Ensure that the existing floor surface itself has enough grip.
• Use the right cleaning method to ensure that the floor’s grip is maintained.
• Make sure steps and slopes have good foot and hand holds and have no sudden changes.
• Replace the floor surface with one that has better grip.
• Select suitable footwear for the conditions, work and individual.
Further information is available in the following documents and on the HSE's website which also includes a number of interesting case studies.
Remember
If an employee suffers a major injury or cannot carry out their normal work activities as a result of a slips or a trip at work then the incident needs to be reported under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995. If a member of the public is taken to hospital as a result of a slip or trip at your workplace then this also will be reportable.
Don't let it be you!
A 16 year old slipped on water leaking from an ice-making machine and instinctively put her arm out to break her fall. Unfortunately her hand went into the deep fat fryer containing oil at a temperature of 360˚C and she sustained severe burns to her left hand and forearm. Priority was given to serving customers than to cleaning spillages. The accident was avoidable and the company failed to maintain a safe system of work or to carry out a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks associated with slipping in the kitchen. The company were prosecuted and fined £15,000.