Why were nearly a million working days lost in 2010-2011 as a result of workers suffering slip and trip injuries? That statistic is appalling in itself, recording as it does not just economic loss but also tens of thousands of acutely painful personal injuries and is all the more shocking when it is realised how simple it is to avoid slips at work. Many of us might now be looking quizzically at that million working days statistic and wondering ‘just how hard can it be to stop employees slipping over?’
Preventing slips might mean an employer spending a little money, for instance to equip the workforce with BS EN 13287:2004 certified non-slip footwear, mending a leaking roof or putting absorbent door mats at entrances. Or, it might not require any money at all and only entail spending a little mental energy to think of simple changes to working processes or practices that negate or greatly reduce the hazard, for example, spot cleaning instead of wetting large areas with water and cleaning chemicals or ensuring that already existing extractor fans are used to avoid condensation coating the floor. These are just a few examples, but taken as a whole, any of the possible solutions for preventing slips at work do not amount to rocket science.
Fundamentally, if an employer fully discharges his legal duty to care to ensure so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all employees, the workplace hazards that cause employees to slip and injure themselves will have been identified, risk assessed and removed or the slipping risk reduced as far as possible. If an employee suffers an slip-inflicted injury that wasn’t their fault and which can be demonstrated to have been caused by their employer failing to in their duty of care, specifically by failing the address the cause or multiple causes of the slip, then a compensation claim might be able to be made.
To spell it out, some of the proven ways to avoid slips at work include the following:
• Providing the workforce with health and safety training about slip and other hazards.
• Providing the workforce with personal protective equipment (shoes with non-slip soles) and keeping the workplace safe
• Providing floor areas which are constantly and unavoidably contaminated, with a rough non-slip surface
• Making use of safety signage to indicate potentially slippery surfaces.
• Providing adequate workplace lighting so that employees can see that surfaces are contaminated.
• Mending leaks from roofs and equipment that contaminate floors.
• Gritting icy/snowy surfaces on the premises.
• Rapid cleaning and drying of contaminated surfaces.
Nearly a million lost working days is a nearly a million too many when it comes to slip injuries.
Slip at work compensation claims – contact us today
If you are in need of any advice regarding a slip inflicted injury in the workplace, don’t delay, or you could your right to claim compensation – email one of our specialist compensation solicitors today using the form below
