Steps to cutting slips
June 1st 2006 Slips and trips resulting in falls are the most common cause of major workplace injuries in Great Britain and occasionally lead directly to fatal accidents. The need to carry out risk assessments and to resolve identified problems has become an imperative.
Shane Reynolds of Non slip Safety Products explains
Evidence suggests that slips are indirectly responsible for many fatal accidents. They are often the 'first event' in falls from heights. Simple slip injuries often lead to complications in older people, such as thromboses or embolisms, which may be fatal. The National Audit Office, in its report of April 2003, highlighted slips and trips as a main type of accident to workers and the public. The report includes recommendations that many organisations should review their health and safety risk management policies and improve their accident reporting systems.
Accidents can be cut dramatically through planning and positive management during refurbishment and new build, together with good housekeeping. Employees should be consulted at an early stage, as they will have useful experience of areas where problems arise. Accidents are not an inevitable part of life - they can and should be prevented.
The four main causes of slips and trips accidents are: slippery/wet surfaces caused by water and other fluids; slippery surfaces caused by dry or dusty floor contamination; obstructions, both temporary and permanent; uneven surfaces and changes of level, such as unmarked ramps.
Other causes include poor lighting and external glare; human factors such as people rushing; running or carrying heavy items; unsuitable footwear or the use of improper cleaning regimes.
The floor has to have an appropriate level of roughness for smooth floors it is the 'micro-roughness' that matters. The environment, the footwear, and the task also have to be suitable. The characteristics of floor surface materials, required to provide satisfactory slip resistance, were thought to be difficult to assess. However, research carried out by HSE at the Health and Safety Laboratory, in conjunction with the UK Slip Resistance Group and the British Standards Institution, has shown this is not the case. The slipperiness of flooring materials may be simply assessed by using commercially available scientific test methods:
The 'Pendulum' coefficient of friction test is a reliable and accurate test, and has been adopted as the standard HSE test method for the assessment of slipperiness.
However, the instrument requires an experienced operative both to use it and to interpret the results. It is also quite large, reducing its portability.
Slipperiness may be simply assessed by measuring the surface micro-roughness of flooring materials. Many types of roughness test exist, but research has shown that measurement of the Rz parameter (formerly known as Rz(DIN) and Rtm) allows slipperiness to be predicted accurately. Rz is a measure of total surface roughness, calculated as the mean of several peak-to-valley measurements. This measure is quick and a good indicator of floor slip resistance. It has been shown that floor surface Rz roughness levels of at least 20 m are required to enhance the slip-resistance of hard floor materials in water-wet conditions.
The practical measures that can be taken will vary in different situations. It will require management arrangements to identify and implement the necessary control measures for each situation. The five steps to achieve this are: The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1992 (amended in 1999) specify the five steps required for effective risk control arrangements and employee duties, as well as training and consultation with safety representatives. The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 require the floor surface to be suitable by not being 'slippery so as to expose any person to a risk to their safety' and for the floor to have 'effective drainage'.
Preventing contamination rather than increasing the slip resistance to counteract it is clearly preferable. However, very small levels of contamination (a single drop in many circumstances) can lead to drastic increases in slipperiness.
Prevention of contamination must therefore be thorough.
The Regulations require the floor construction to: Have no holes, or slope or be uneven so as to ...expose a person to a risk; So far as reasonably practicable keep floors free of obstructions and from any article which may cause a person to trip; Not have accumulated waste materials except in suitable receptacles; Wherever possible fit antislip coatings to floors, stairs, ramps etc
There are now available anti-slip covers made from tough and durable fibre-glass which are coated with silicon carbide grit and have been specifically designed for easy installation.
These materials are made in various styles and shapes, such as stair nosing's that can be produced in luminous material to conform with the Disability Discrimination Act.
B U L L E T I N Shane Reynolds is product manager of Non Slip Safety Products, a company that supplies safety products for stair nosings, stair covers, ladder rungs, grating, flooring, decking, gulleys and guarding.
All products are constructed from rough GRP fibreglass.
The silicon carbon grit incorporated into the products not only enhances durability but provides a high level of traction, even in extreme weather.
Samples are available on request.
For more information: Shane Reynolds Non slip safety Products 5-8 Chilford Court Rayne Road Braintree CM7 2QS Tel: 01376 333315 www.nonslipsp.co.uk More articles from Nonslip Safety Products: | 
