Slips and trips in health and social care

The health and social care sector is one of the largest employers in the UK and has a large population of vulnerable patients and users of care services. 
In the health and social care workplace setting:

• Slips and trips are one of the most common accidents and make up over a third of all major injuries.
• 95% of major slips and trips accidents result in broken bones.
• They can also be the initial cause of other accidents, such as a fall from height. 
• In 2009/10 over 1600 workers suffered a major injury because of a slip or trip in the health sector alone.  See our statistics page for further information on work-related ill health and injuries in the health and social care sector.
• Most slips occur on wet or contaminated floors, often after cleaning.  Most trips are due to poor housekeeping.

Research

• Research report RR889 - Investigation of slip resistance and the hygienic cleaning of floors in hospital settings
  Some health and social care providers are concerned that smooth floors are required to enable hygienic cleaning to reduce the risk of infection. Many providers make extensive use of smooth vinyl, which can lead to an increased risk of slip and trip accidents. This research was commissioned by HSE to explore whether slip resistant flooring installed in hospitals can be cleaned to a hygienic standard using standard cleaning practices.
  
• Cleaning activities and slip and trip accidents in NHS Acute Trusts - a scoping study - HSL/2006/80
  The objectives of the project were to identify:
  • Whether health and safety professionals, housekeeping, supervisory and cleaning staff are aware of the impact of cleaning on slips and trips accidents;
  • Factors that impact on the number of accidents;
  • How cleaning procedures, techniques and materials are specified and monitored;
  • Interventions that could reduce the number of accidents in hospitals.

Tools

• The Slips and Trips eLearning Package (STEP) is an easy way to learn about slips and trips; how they are caused; why preventing them is important; and how to tackle them.. STEP includes quizzes, videos, animations, case studies and interactive sequences to enhance the learning experience
• The Slips assessment tool (SAT) is a free downloadable software package that allows an operator to assess the slip potential of surfaces