Prevent Slips And Trips With An Office Safety Check

16th August 2013

Slips and trips injury claims are especially common in offices. While offices may seem like a particularly safe working environment, with a limited risk of serious accidents at work, there are actually a lot of hazards and risks that should be dealt with as part of a company’s health and safety policy.

So how can you prevent slips and trips in the office?

Electrical Cables And Wires Create Slip And Trip Injury Hazards

Your office may have electrical cables and wires running up and down walkways, crossing across aisles and travelling under desks. This creates one of the most significant trip hazards in offices and is a factor in many workplace accident claims – people can easily trip over cables, suffering serious accidents at work, pulling equipment from desks as they fall and sustaining severe personal injuries.

Employers should prevent these incidents by ensuring wires and cables do not travel along walkways or cross exit routes by running them along the wall whenever possible. Wires and cables can also be taped or secured to the floor so they cannot be tripped over. Dealing with this hazard is simple, but too many employers fail to do so, leading to preventable accident at work compensation claims.

Prevent Personal Injury Claims By Securing And Maintaining Flooring

Improper flooring also regularly causes slip and trip personal injury claims. Tears and rips in carpeting can cause people to trip over, while insecure rugs and mats can slip out from under people’s feet.

Flooring in offices should have enough friction to allow people to walk safely on it when wearing regular footwear, and should be well-maintained, with holes and patches repaired immediately. Not only will this make the office more pleasant to work in, it will also make it considerably safer and prevent trip injury claims.

Uneven flooring can also occur in doorways and at other entryways. Threshold and transition strips underneath doors can become loose and lead to trips at work, and should be fastened down when they begin to lift off the ground.

Proactive maintenance systems should ensure flooring remains safe and suitable for use and help to prevent tripping accident claims.

Cleaning Systems Prevent Trip Compensation Claims

Offices that fail to implement effective cleaning systems can also find employees suffering injuries in slips and trips. Messiness, wet and slippery flooring or obstructions in walkways can all lead to slips and trips, but cleaning can eliminate these risks when done effectively. Cleaners should know how to complete their job without creating slip and trip hazards or injuring themselves and others.

Offices can become messy due to inadequate storage space, so employers should consider shelving and secure storage to ensure their staff do not leave personal belongings on the floor. Bags and coats in walkways can easily lead to slip and trip accident claims, so staff should be able to store their items in a safe manner and should take an active role in keeping the office clean.