At some point in your life, be it in school or at home, you would have surely fallen over, tripped, or slipped. And it is most likely that you would stand up and brush yourself off. What if this happens at your workplace? Slips, trips, and falls in the workplace, particularly in an industrial area, can be dangerous.
Did you know one in every six Americans lose precious time because of work injuries from slips and trips? Slips and falls account for 12% to 15% of workers' compensation claims in the U.S.
There are ways to avoid such freaky accidents and ensure that you can go about your day-to-day work routine, as safely as possible. Hiring workplace safety training services is an excellent initiative to reduce the risk of severe trips, slips, or falls. Here are a few tips to prevent slips, trips, and falls at your workplace.
Implement Excellent Housekeeping Practices
Housekeeping is an integral part of any workplace. Substandard housekeeping practices lead to increased employee accidents. Planning and assigning responsibilities to respective teams can ensure a fantastic housekeeping strategy. Develop housekeeping procedures as a part of the daily routine.
If your firm’s facilities appear well-organized and clean, it indicates that its overall safety program is compliant.
Take Care Of Wet Surfaces
The majority of the accidents due to slippery surfaces happen at food prep areas, staircases, restrooms, reception areas, and parking lots.
The weather conditions affect the traction on outdoor surfaces. In turn, they change the indoor surfaces, since moisture due to pedestrian traffic seeps through the flooring.
Using moisture-absorbent mats at entrances is an excellent way to restrict the moisture content. Display wet floor signs when required. More importantly, clean up spills at the earliest.
Maintain Adequate Lighting
Poor lighting in the workplace increases the number of accidents. Ensure your work area is well lit and keep the areas near light switches clear. Use adequate illumination in walkways, hallways, staircases, and basements. Also, whenever you enter a dark zone or a room, always turn on the light first.
Avoid Obstacles In Aisles And Walkways
Ensure your workplace has well-defined avenues for workforce movement and areas to organize office related material and equipment. This measure will avoid accidents due to tripping on any clutter in the walkways.
The experienced workplace safety training services recommend all organizations to keep the work stations, passageways, storerooms, and service areas clutter-free. As a precaution, you can avoid leaving boxes and files in the aisles. Small things like closing the file cabinet drawers after use and picking up litter from the floor, make a huge difference.
Manage Individual Behavior
You will often be too involved in your work, and you might let your guard down for a moment.
While walking in the hallway, ensure you are aware of your surroundings, particularly while carrying material which obstructs your vision and using a cell phone. By doing this, you will be safe and so will be your colleagues.
A recent study shows that there are about 1,000,000 occupational injuries, with 25% being slips, trips, and falls. Have an understanding of the common workplace accidents and hire a safety training consultant to prevent them.
