Walkway level changes hard to spot

Alterations were made to walkways in a government office after an alert administration manager identified a risk to pedestrians.

The walkways were covered in dark maroon tiles and were in good condition throughout but close to two entrance doors there were sloping areas of walkway and another area on a staff corridor. The building was quite old and the changes in level were part of the building structure but, because of the dark colour of the floor, it was not obvious that there was a change in level. All of the areas were part of fire escape routes and one was at the entrance to the main reception. The manager knew that visitors could not be expected to know about the change in level and some visitors may be less steady on their feet than others.

It would have been difficult to change the structure and to remove the slopes by introducing a single step into the walkway would probably not have lessened the risk. He decided to highlight the slopes with contrasting, light coloured areas of carpet tiles so that the changes in level attracted the attention and were apparent to pedestrians.

Although there had been no reports of accidents (neither injuries nor 'near misses') on these walkways he decided that the very low cost of retiling these areas was worthwhile when compared to the potential cost of just one fall injury.