Facility Safety Management

Don’t underestimate the concern and costs of slips, trips and falls in the workplace. These incidents occur far too frequently, are often disabling, sometimes deadly, and bring pain, hardship or trauma to the affected employees, their families and co-workers.

In addition to the human element, slips, trips and falls carry a huge ﬁnancial cost to industry… literally billions of dollars each year. Safety managers are evaluated by recordable incidents and lost workdays, due to on-the-job accidents. They know how signiﬁcant slips, trips and falls are, and are determined to reduce their occurrence.

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, slips, trips and falls represent the majority of general industry accidents and account for a surprising 15 percent of all accidental deaths in the workplace. This is second only to motor vehicle fatalities.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics goes on to state that 20 percent of workplace injuries are caused by slips, trips and falls. These incidents result in an average of 11 days lost work time, with a mean cost of more than $30,000 per incident. The costs skyrocket to more than $1 million when a fatality results.

In addition to these direct costs, productivity can suffer when other employees are required to step in to perform the injured person’s work. Those employees often have lower skill and experience levels for the affected job and require more training to get up to speed.

OSHA reinforces the importance of minimizing slips, trips and falls, and actively polices it. OSHA’s Walking and Working Surfaces standard (CFR 1910 Subpart D 1910.21-30) addresses S/T/F for essentially all permanent places of employment. The standard covers housekeeping, aisles and passageways, covers & guardrails, stairways, ladders, balconies, employee communication and more.

Importantly, 2/3 of slips, trips and falls occur on the same level of the facility. Therefore, safety managers recognize the importance of correcting both same level S/T/F and falls from height.

The good news in all this is that there are a number of relatively easy ways to effectively reduce same- and different-level slips, trips and falls. Proper implementation of these measures can accomplish both compliance with OSHA’s regulations and a real reduction of recordable incidents and resulting lost workdays.

Begin by developing a Slips, Trips and Falls Prevention Program. This will address preventive measures, facility inspection, housekeeping and employee training.

Keep entry and work area ﬂoors as clean and dry as possible. Place moisture-ab-sorbent anti-slip ﬂoor mats at entry points. Good drainage and removal is necessary where wet work processes are present. Disposable heavy-duty sorbent mats are often used in heavy trafﬁc areas and at work stations.

Mark aisles and passageways. Use ﬂoor-marking tapes to designate walkways. OSHA states that permanent aisles and passageways must be appropriately marked to ensure safe passage [CFR 1910.22(b)(2)]. Specially mark uneven walkway and ﬂoor surfaces as well.

Provide permanent traction on potentially slippery surfaces. Adding traction will provide assured footing on wet, slippery and potentially slippery surfaces. Adhesive-backed anti-skid tapes can be easily applied to these surfaces, including stairs and ramps.

Improve safety on stairs. OSHA’s Walking and Working Surfaces standard addresses the need for stair treads that will provide assured,

permanent traction. This can be accomplished by retrofitting stair nosings that have a friction surface or with the anti-skid tapes and cleats. Also make sure that stairwell lighting provides good visibility.

Post safety signage and labeling. OSHA states that safety instruction signs shall be used where there is a need for general instructions and suggestions relative to safety measures [CFR 1910.145(c)(3)]. This is critical in order to effectively communicate safety concerns and provide on-the-spot information. The signage should be standardized and consistent. Industrial label printers allow you to create and apply custom safety labels, signs and tags when you need them.

Control and clean up oil and spills Address this as part of your facility’s good housekeeping procedure. Additionally, keep a ready supply of oil and liquid sorbents, including emergency spill kits, in each department and on every level of the workplace.

Warn employees, tenants and visitors of temporary hazards. Mark temporary maintenance, clean-up and janitorial hazards with ﬂoor stands, warning posts and barriers.

Mark emergency evacuation routes with glow-in-the-dark safety exit signs and tapes. When properly charged with light, these will remain illuminated for more than 10 hours in blackout conditions, with no electricity required. Some local building codes now specify the use of these photoluminescent safety markings to accomplish faster, safer emergency evacuations.

Inspect ladders and scaffolds. Proper use and care of ladders and scaffolds is essential. Implement a safety and usage inspection system to ensure that these are used only when ready for use, and are always used properly.

Employees should wear proper footwear that suits the work environment and maintains solid traction across a wide variety of ﬂoor surfaces to help reduce slips and falls.

Train your employees. Provide interactive training of the situations that can lead to slips, trips and falls. Reinforce your policies and what employees can do to avoid or prevent these accidents.

It All Adds Up to a Big Difference

A formal S/T/F program coupled with the generous use of anti-skid and visual warning products and signage throughout the facility, plus employee training and awareness, all add up to a big difference. By taking these important steps to reduce slips, trips and falls hazards throughout your facility, you’ll do more than make it safer by preventing accidents and injuries.

You’ll also improve productivity by minimizing lost work days, and likely increase your company’s bottom line by reducing worker compensation, insurance claims and related costs. FSM

For more information, visit Brady at www.bradyid.com or call 1-888-272-3946.

Tom Campbell is senior marketing manager, Safety & Compliance, for Brady Corp., which provides safety and identiﬁcation solution products and services, including those for the prevention of slips, trips and falls in the workplace. www.bradyid.com.