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Preventing slips, trips and falls

Use SAFE Momentum - prevent slips, trips and falls and prevent workplace injuries!

Slips, trips and falls are among the highest causes of injury and incident in Manitoba workplaces. Across the province, approximately 2,800 workers are hurt in fall-related incidents each year.

One of the most important elements of a workplace safety and health program is an effective system to identify and control hazards.  Implementing this system at your workplace will help to safeguard employees against slip, trip and fall-related injuries and reduce the occurrence of time-loss injuries.

Put simply – the benefits of an effective hazard identification and control system are endless.

To help you implement a system to identify and control slip, trip and fall hazards at your workplace, download our guides for Fall Protection and Setting up a Workplace Safety and Health Program. Read on for some basic information that will help everyone at your workplace avoid slips, trips and falls.

What causes falls? 

More than 69 per cent of all workplace falls in Manitoba happen on level ground when workers slip or trip and lose their footing. The remainder happen when workers lose their footing from an elevated point like a ladder, top of a staircase, or from a roof, if an effective fall protection system is not being used.  

  • Slips may be caused by inconsistencies in walking surfaces. These can include standing substances such as:
    Water
    Oil
    Ice
    Loose gravel
    Worn out flooring surfaces

Workers may trip when a surface is uneven or another object gets in the way of a walking path. Trips start with a loss of balance and most often end in a fall. Common trip triggers are:

  • Poor lighting
  • Uneven carpet or flooring
  • Cables or other electrical equipment
  • Stairs
  • Workers not paying attention

Falls are avoidable – if you take the proper precautions, you can prevent injury.

How can I prevent falls?

The best way to ward off falls is to eliminate the hazards which cause them.

Most often, falls happen because of an unexpected change in conditions – that is surface conditions, environmental conditions or walking conditions. To minimize the effect of a change in conditions, always wear proper footwear and be alert to changes in your walking path. 

You can also help protect those around you from falls by doing the following:

  • Clean all spills on walking surfaces
  • Barricade all wet or uneven areas
  • Remove non-barricade obstacles from walkways
  • Cover cables on walking surfaces
  • Ensure walkways are well lit
  • Tack down loose mats or rugs

Ultimately, it is everyone’s responsibility to avoid slips, trips and falls – but ensuring that your workplace has a system in place to identify and control hazards is the best place to start.

Some industry advocates - like the Construction Safety Association of Manitoba - have already taken steps to impose industry-wide fall protection standards, so check with your governing body!

For more information on setting up a system to identify and control hazards in your workplace, call the Workplace Safety and Health Client Services Office at 945-6848.