Live issues

This page seeks to highlight current work being undertaken as part of the Slips, Trips and Falls Priority Programme. Regular updates will be posted as and when new information is available.

Safer surfaces to walk on - Reducing the risk of slipping - new guidance just out!

If you are after detailed but practical guidance on how to improve floors and stairs in order to stop people from slipping, this document could be for you.

Once you understand what can cause a slip you are half way to finding a solution. This guide looks at all the different factors that can lead to slips happening eg different types of flooring material, contamination, shoe soles, cleaning regimes, human factors and environmental issues. It also introduces the Slip Potential Model, which can help you predict, through your risk assessments, where slips may happen. The section on the health, safety and building legislation can also help you understand your statutory obligations. Whilst the real life case studies illustrate how others have or hope to overcome their slip problems.

Although this document was written for people who design, procure and manage flooring in buildings, it is so easy to follow that it would suit virtually anyone who wanted detailed knowledge on how to prevent slips.

If followed, should significantly reduce the number of accidents on existing and new floors

This guide is produced by CIRIA in conjunction with the HSE and Arup and is based on research mostly carried out by Health and Safety Laboratory. Bodies responsible for the design maintenance and operation of transport systems, shopping centres and hospitals, all organisations where the costs of slipping incidents are high, have also considerably aided production of the guide.

It is available as a priced hard copy from CIRIA Books [this file is very large and may take a while to download PDF 21MB] - it can also be accessed in .PDF format at no cost.

Procuring Footwear with Slip-Resistant Properties - a one day seminar in London on 29/6/2006

Slips (and trips) at work represent 33% of all reported major injuries and cost employers like yourselves over £500m a year plus £800m in costs to society. Selecting the right footwear can be a cost-effective way to help reduce accidents.

Attend this free one-day seminar to find out more

New case studies

Preventing slips and trips in kitchens and the food service

New guidance helping caterers reduce slips on kitchen floors.

CAIS - Preventing slips and trips in kitchens and the food service [PDF 70kb]

New information sheet on slip test methods

Assessing the slip resistance of flooring [PDF 321kb]
It has been estimated that worldwide, there are between 80 and 100 different tests for measuring the slip resistance of floors. HSE has identified the need to provide clear information about common slip test methods in order to help designers, facilities managers and those having responsibility for specifying flooring. A new information sheet, which aims to demystify the confusion surrounding the many different slip tests, is now available to download here...

Can you help? We are looking for slip and trip success stories

Learning from examples of how particular issues or problems have been dealt with in real life working situations is always an effective part of incident and injury prevention. Slip and trip injury prevention is no different. Finding out what has worked well (or what has not worked) in comparable situations continues to be a useful and well received part of the help and information that we try to provide. If you have had success at tackling slips and tips or have a story to tell then don't be shy about what you have achieved and learned.

Tell us about your experiences so that we can continue to help people to find the slip and trip solutions that will work for them

Designing safety into buildings

A group called Designers Initiative On Health And Safety (DIOHAS) represent much of the top hundred architectural practices in the UK and meet regularly on issues relevant to design aspects of health and safety in workplaces and other parts of the built environment.

More about designing safety into buildings

Fast food restaurant owners ponder options

A local authority Environmental Health Officer (EHO) visited a fast food restaurant (one of a chain) to investigate a slip accident which broke the arm of a female employee. The EHO identified that there were several good aspects about the safety standards on site - a generally positive company attitude to safety, adequate training well-kept documentation & records, proper floor cleaning systems - but the servery area was found to be very slippery. The nature of the business meant that the floor in the busy servery area was bound to become wet at some stage. When the EHO spoke to members of staff they stated that the incident "had been waiting to happen".on site were much happier with the conditions.

More about fast food restaurant owners ponder options

Fractured skull from wholly preventable catering slip

A kitchen worker fractures her skull. Injured member of staff unlikely to work again. Prosecuted employer ordered to pay over £36,000 including prosecution costs.

More about Fractured skull from wholly preventable catering slip

Holed walkway went unrepaired for months before injuring health service worker

A hole had been dug in a concrete walkway at a hospital in order to repair a leak. The walkway was a busy access route to the hospital kitchen and restaurant. Five months later the hole in the walkway had still not been repaired, nor was it properly protected despite repeated requests to management from staff in the catering department.

More about the holed walkway

Slip risks on a supermarket's smooth floor - sensible long and short-term action

When management at a large supermarket, part of a nationwide chain, carried out an assessment of health and safety risks and an analysis of known incidents they identified pedestrian slipping was amongst their most significant safety issues

More about the supermarket slips

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2021-05-07