Slips and trips

Slips and trips result in thousands of injuries every year. The most common ones are
musculoskeletal injuries, cuts, bruises, fractures and dislocations but more serious injuries can
also occur.

Slips occur when a persons foot loses traction with the ground surface due to wearing
inappropriate footwear or when walking on slippery floor surfaces such as those that are
highly polished, wet or greasy.

Trips occur when a person unexpectedly catches their foot on an object or surface. In most
cases people trip on low obstacles that are not easily noticed such as uneven edges in
flooring, loose mats, opened drawers, untidy tools or cables from electrical equipment.

Falls can result from a slip or trip but many also occur during falls from low heights such as
steps, stairs and curbs, falling into a hole or a ditch or into a body of water.

Hierarchy of control Examples

Eliminate the hazard Remove slip and trip hazards at the design stage such as
eliminating changes in floor levels and installing more
power outlets to avoid trailing cords.
Substitution Replace flooring with a more slip-resistant surface.
Isolation Prevent access to high risk areas, for example cordon off
wet floor areas while cleaning is in progress.
Engineering controls Apply floor treatments to increase slip resistance
(redesign) Improve lighting
Stop leaks from equipment or pipes
Provide adequate drainage
Clearly mark edges of steps and any changes in
floor height.

Administrative controls Implement good housekeeping practices including

keeping access ways clear and cleaning up spills
immediately
Use signage to warn of wet or slippery areas
Provide training and supervision.

Personal protective Wear slip-resistant footwear.

equipment

The role of PCBUs

PCBUs must manage the health and safety risks associated with slips and trips by eliminating
the risk so far as is reasonably practicable, and if that is not reasonably practicable,
minimising the risk so far as is reasonably practicable.

This involves a systematic approach to:

identify hazards
if necessary, assess the risks associated with these hazards
implement and maintain risk control measures
review risk control measures.
There are various ways to control the risk of slips and trips, listed below in order of their
effectiveness (known as the hierarchy of controls):
More than one control measure may be needed to provide the best protection. A checklist to
assist with the identification of slip and trip hazards and the selection of appropriate control
measures is on page 7 of this fact sheet.

Identifying slip and trip hazards

Common slip hazards include:

spills of liquid or solid material

wet cleaning methods
wind-driven rain or snow through doorways
a sudden change in floor surface, for example joins between carpet and polished timber
change from wet to dry surface
dusty and sandy surfaces
the incline of a ramp
loose or bumpy flooring
low light levels
use of unsuitable footwear.
Common trip hazards include:

ridges in floors or carpets

worn floor coverings or broken tiles
potholes and cracks in floors
changes in floor level
thresholds and doorstops
floor sockets and phone jacks
cables from power extension units
loads that obstruct vision
Obstacles in traffic areas.

Selecting control measuresdesign of facilities

The best way to eliminate slips and trips is to build and design facilities with safety in mind.
The following are some general matters which should be considered during the design stage.

For floor design:

Minimise any changes in the floor level. If levels must change, use ramps rather than steps
when connecting pedestrian pathways.
Ensure the maximum ramp slope does not exceed
1:12.
Use slip-resistant floor tiles.
Avoid sudden transitions in floor surface texture if possible. If such transitions occur,
ensure good lighting and visual cues highlight the change
For the design of stairs:
All risers and treads should be uniform throughout a flight of stairs.
Variations in the riser and tread should be reasonablethe riser ranges from 150 175mm
and the tread ranges from 225 320mm, trips can easily occur for risers less than 75mm.
 The elevation of any flight of stairs should be designed between 15 and 55.
A landing should be introduced every 16 steps in a flight of stairs.
Consider whether handrails are required, including if it is not reasonably practicable to
implement the above controls.

For lighting design:

Ensure both internal and external stairways are well lit.
Areas such as corridors, walkways, staircases and lifts, should have an illuminance of at
least 100 lux, so far as is reasonably practicable.

For the design of drainage:

Provide means of containing and draining fluids at machines or processes.
Provide drains as close as possible to any source of water or liquid that is frequently
generated.
Use floor grates where work tasks generate a lot of water or liquid.
Ensure grates in walkways or aisles are slip resistant.
When designing storage:
Provide ample storage space to avoid materials being placed in aisles.
Ensure procedures for the return of tools to designated areas are in place.

When designing work procedures:

Develop procedures that avoid the build-up of rubbish throughout a production process, for
example using pre-cast units instead of formwork and bar-bending construction methods in
construction work.
Choose or replace machinery that frequently generates noise, dust, fumes or smoke.

Selecting control measures housekeeping

Good housekeeping helps prevent slips and trips. Examples of control measures include:

training staff to recognise slip and trip hazards and the importance of good housekeeping
setting up standards and procedures for storage and cleaning
checking and storing usable inventories, discarding any unwanted items
implementing safe systems of work and any relevant signage for timely and efficient
reporting and clean-up of spills
providing sufficient rubbish or recycling bins
using appropriate containers for rubbish if it is likely to contain sharp objects
developing a cleaning schedule that assigns workers to take charge of cleaning
workplaces, and
Encouraging workers to clean their workplaces daily before they leave, so far as is
reasonably practicable.

Selecting control measuressafety training

All workers share responsibility for housekeeping and cleanliness at the workplace. Work
health and safety training not only assists workers to become more aware of slip and trip
hazards and the relevant control measures, but also helps to prevent injuries. Training should
include:
Awareness of slip and trip hazards identifying effective control measures
 Duties of workers.
Selecting control measurespersonal protective equipment
Personal protection equipment (PPE) including slip resistant footwear should only be used:
When there are no other practical control measures available (as a last resort)
As an interim measure until a more effective way of controlling the risk can be used
To supplement higher level control measures (as a backup).
When selecting and purchasing footwear consider whether it has good slip resistance
properties, in addition to any other required safety features. For example:
in wet conditionsthe shoe sole tread pattern should be deep enough to help penetrate the
surface water and make direct contact with the floor
in dry conditionsthe shoe sole tread pattern should be flat bottom construction which grips
the floor with maximum contact area, and
Urethane and rubber soles are more effective than vinyl and leather soles for slip resistance.
Sole materials that exhibit tiny cell like features will provide the added benefit of slip
resistance.
Controlling the risks of slipping
Floor treatments that improve slip resistance are those which increase the surface
roughness of the flooring. The main floor treatments are sand blasting or grinding, chemical
etching, coating with resins, and using floor mats or adhesive anti-slip strips.

Examples of different floor types are:

Ways to eliminate or minimise slipping hazards due to accidental spills include:

clean up water or oily spills immediately use absorbent paper or powder for cleaning up
any oily residues
thoroughly dry floors after cleaning
Erect warning signs at areas with a high risk of spills

Controlling the risks of tripping

Ways to eliminating tripping hazards include:

provide storage areas separate to work areas

provide sufficient storage systems to keep materials out of aisles
provide sufficient power sockets and computer service jacks to minimise or remove the
requirement for cords on the floor (where possible)
remove or cover protruding sockets on the floor
securely stack goods and avoiding single towering stacks
hang power cords over work areas rather than on the floor
clean up workplaces and remove rubbish or obstructions regularly
Display visual cues, such as warning strips and signs to alert pedestrians about changed or
uneven surfaces