1. Overview
Slips, trips and falls can have a serious impact on the lives of employees and those being cared for. They account for around half of all reported major injuries to employees.
Some users of health or care services can be particularly vulnerable to falls injuries, and falls on the same level account for a significant number of injuries to service users, many of which are preventable.
Many factors can cause slips, trips and falls. These include:
- methods of cleaning
- flooring type
- footwear
- levels of lighting
- contrast between floors
- walls and doors
- obstructions or other trip hazards
The practical measures you can take will vary in different situations; some measures will reduce the risk to both workers and non-employees, whereas others may be more targeted.
These pages provide specific guidance on reducing the risks of slips, trips and falls in health and social care. There is more general information on how to manage the risks for all industries in our slips and trips guidance.
Tools to learn about slips and trips
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. This package has a course specifically designed for the healthcare sector.
Slips Assessment Tool (SAT) is a free downloadable software package that allows an operator to assess the slip potential of surfaces.