Using Facilities Maintenance For Health & Safety Best Practice
Workplace safety is top-priority for employers and facilities managers. In 2022, it has been reported that more than a quarter of warehouse workers in the UK were affected by slips and trips at work. From this survey, it was shown that almost half of facilities managers felt slippery surfaces, damaged floors, and neglected general maintenance were the greatest risk factors around this element of workplace safety.
Slips and trips can be minor. However, in more serious cases, they can cause serious injury or even death, costly loss of working days (971 000 working days were lost between 2017/18 and 2019/20), compensation, and disrupted processes. Get quick-read information on duties around slips, trips, and falls in the UK; the most common hazards, and how facilities maintenance services can help.
WHAT IS THE MAIN LEGISLATION THAT COVERS SLIPS, TRIPS, AND FALLS IN THE UK?
The Health & Safety At Work Act
This legislation requires employers to ensure, as much as possible, that employees and those in contact with the workplace are protected from slip and trip risks. This forms part of their health and safety responsibility under the statute. It is also workers’ responsibilities to ensure their own health and safety and to utilise personal protective equipment where available.
The Management of Health & Safety At Work Regulations
These regulations require workplace risks to be assessed and addressed. This includes slip and trip risks.
The Workplace (Health, Safety, and Welfare) Regulations
These regulations make provision for the safe movement of employees within the workplace. This means floors must be in good condition and free from obstacles that could cause slips and trips.
WHAT ARE THE HAZARDS OF SLIP AND TRIP?
Employers should conduct a thorough assessment of workplace risks and hazards, identify who is vulnerable, and address these points with safety in mind. The HSE lists contamination, cleaning, people, flooring, environment, and footwear as major contributors to incidents of trips and slips. When it comes to flooring, the following facilities maintenance-focused approach could serve to reduce risk.
Trip & Slip Hazard: Uneven Flooring
Uneven flooring can be a slip and trip hazard. The HSE also lists wet and contaminated flooring as a common cause of falls in the workplace – and the risk posed by the surface condition of flooring can be exacerbated by the other factors listed by the HSE.
Solution: Ensure flooring is correctly fitted and maintained and suited to working conditions. Where necessary, these areas should be equipped with handrails and markings, the placement and condition of mats should be considered and reviewed. Consideration should be given to the effect of lighting on slip and trip near misses or past cases.
Trip & Slip Hazard: Wet and Contaminated Flooring
Solution: Every effort should be made to ensure housekeeping doesn’t leave puddles of water in walkways. Winter facilities maintenance and ongoing estate management should be conducted to prevent pooling around doorways and to ensure effective guttering. Instances of humidity, condensation, and weather should be taken into account and addressed.
Building owners and managers should be fastidious about identifying and fixing leaks as quickly as possible.
Keeping machinery in good working order through consistent maintenance can also reduce oil leaks and other contaminant by-products which could constitute a slip and trip risk.
MITIGATE TRIP AND SLIP RISKS BY PARTNERING WITH FACILITIES MAINTENANCE SPECIALISTS
Consistent preventative general maintenance goes a long way in preventing conditions that can lead to trips and slips. By partnering with facilities maintenance specialists, you’ll get the best advice and anticipatory insights into building and infrastructure condition, estate management, and maintenance focus points to reduce workplace hazards.
Contact Voltix Services today to find out more about our range of facilities maintenance services and for our recommendations on workplace health and safety in your building.