Slips and Trips
In 2009, the HSE launched their ‘Shattered Lives’ campaign – aimed at reducing injuries in education caused by slips and trips. In 2007/8 slips and trips caused 60% of serious accidents to people working in Education and all slips, trips and falls in Education cost £48.6 million.
Avoiding accidents:
The main issues for staff and pupils in schools include:
Climbing on furniture – don’t use a chair – use a stepladder. It only takes a few seconds longer to fetch one, but its so much safer
Trip Hazards – try to keep corridors clear – think about students’ bags left outside rooms
Housekeeping – put resources away into cupboards – don’t leave things lying around for someone else to tidy up.
Changes in level – ramps and steps should be clearly marked. Advise new staff about unexpected changes in level
Food spills – keep food in dining halls and appropriate areas only. Spilt food is much more slippy than simply a wet floor – so try to keep food in one area only, and clean up spillages immediately
Wrong cleaning methods – sometimes floors remain greasy even after cleaning, but they may look clean. Check that your cleaning staff are using the right chemical to cut through grease.
There is lots of information available on the HSE website, including details of the case study about the teacher who was awarded £55,000 after slipping on a chip.
http://www.hse.gov.uk/shatteredlives/industry-education.htm#js_resources1
There is also a free publication available to advise schools on this issue. Get it here: http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/edis2.pdf
How can In House help you?
Our sister company – Quality Leisure Management – are industry leaders in leisure safety. One of the key safety concerns with swimming pools involves slipping on wet floors. QLM have developed a slip testing service – suitable for any floor surface in your school. They have identified the following as the key areas of concern:
- Kitchen floors
- Sports halls
- Circulation areas
- Changing rooms
- Swimming pool surrounds
Claims for injuries as a result of slipping in sport and leisure facilities have been a constant and seemingly growing area of litigation. In some cases action by enforcement authorities has also resulted from near misses following slips or injuries due to persons slipping.
If your accident statistics show that you have had a lot of slips, or you’ve had lots of ‘near misses’ relating to slips, this slip testing could help you decide what to do next.
Slip testing includes assessing the friction (pendulum test), and the roughness of the surface. Once that data is available, the HSE Slip Assessment Tool can be completed, to help indicate if you have a problem.
To find out more about how In House and QLM can help you – please contact us on 0845 873 2390, or email us at info@inhouse-hygiene.co.uk
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