Slips and Trips at Work – The Costs

According to statistics from the Health and Safety Executive, slips and trips are the single most common cause of injuries at work and account for over a third of all major work injuries.

They cost employers over £512m a year in lost production and other costs and account for over half of all reported injuries to members of the public.

The definition of a traffic route is very wide. It means of route for pedestrians, vehicles, both. Including. stairs, staircase, fixed ladder, doorway, gateway, loading bay, ramp.

(1) Every floor in a workplace and the surface of every traffic route in a workplace shall be of a construction such that the floor or surface of the traffic route is suitable for the purpose for which it is used.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (1), the requirements in that paragraph shall include requirements that—

(a) The floor, or surface of the traffic route, shall have no hole or slope, or be uneven slippery so as, in each case, to expose any person to a risk to his health or safety; and

(b) Every such floor shall have effective means of drainage where necessary.

(3) So far as is reasonably practicable, every floor in a workplace and the surface of every traffic route in a workplace shall be kept free from obstructions and from any article or substance which may cause a person to slip, trip or fall.

(4) In considering whether for the purposes of paragraph (2)(a) a hole or slope exposes any person to a risk to his health or safety—

(a) No account shall be taken of a hole where adequate measures have been taken to a person falling; and

(b) Account shall be taken of any handrail provided in connection with any slope.