Title:

Slippery Surfaces

Hazard Category:

• Safety

Hazard(s):

• Slips, trips, and falls

Problem:

Workers are exposed to wet or oily surfaces, occasional spills, weather hazards, loose or unanchored rugs or mats, and flooring or other walking surfaces that do not have the same traction in all areas.

Risk Description:

Workers who are exposed to wet or oily surfaces, occasional spills, weather hazards, loose or unanchored rugs or mats, and flooring or other walking surfaces that do not have the same traction in all areas may be at a significant risk for falling due to slips.

Slips occur when there is too little friction or traction between the individual and the walking surface.  In normal walking there are two types of slips:

• When the heel of the forward foot contacts the walking surface, the front foot slips forward, and the person falls backward.
• When the rear foot slips backward the force to move forward is on the sole of the rear foot. As the rear heel is lifted and the force moves forward to the front of the sole, the foot slips back and the person falls.
  

PtD Strategy

Prevention through Design is the effort by design engineers to make safer workplaces through implementing safety at the project design stage. For common slip hazards you can reduce the risk to the worker of slipping by engineering the equipment or workplace more effectively. For example:

• Install resilient, non-slippery, or non-skid strips or floor coatings on walking and working surfaces.
• Recoat or replace floors, install mats, and apply pressure-sensitive abrasive strips or abrasive-filled paint on coating and metal or synthetic decking.
• Install hand rails.
• It is critical to remember that high-tech flooring requires good housekeeping as much as any other flooring.

Introduce work practices that reduce the risk, such as implementing measures to ensure that procedures, instruction, training, and warning signs are in place to warn and protect workers exposed to slippery surfaces. This could include limiting the amount of time a worker is exposed to slippery surfaces.

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