Contamination

People rarely slip on a clean, dry floor. Contamination is involved in almost all slip accidents, that is anything that ends up on a floor, eg rain water, oil, dust etc. If a floor has a smooth surface (eg standard vinyl, ceramic tiles or varnished wood), even a tiny amount of contamination can be a real slip problem.

Contamination can be introduced by the work activity or by cleaning[28].

What should you do?

Identify where the contamination is coming from:

  • spills
  • leaks
  • overflow
  • cleaning activity
  • run-off
  • from footwear

Consider how to stop the contamination reaching the floor, ie:

  • guards
  • drip trays
  • lids
  • review working practices
  • entrance matting

If contamination is inevitable, identify other controls to avoid slips, ie:

  • flooring type
  • Cleaning
  • footwear

Identify the correct cleaning procedure for floors:

Encourage a 'See it, sort it!' mentality to deal with hazards quickly, eg dealing with a spillage, instead of waiting for someone else to deal with it. See Slips and trips - Hazard spotting checklist (PDF) [29] and Stop spills in kitchens: A good practice guide (PDF) [30].

Case studies

Link URLs in this page

  1. Slips and tripshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/slips/index.htm
  2. The lawhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/slips/law.htm
  3. Frequently asked questions https://www.hse.gov.uk/slips/faq.htm
  4. Overview - Are you a?https://www.hse.gov.uk/slips/are-you.htm
  5. Employerhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/slips/employers.htm
  6. Employeehttps://www.hse.gov.uk/slips/workers.htm
  7. Architect or designerhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/slips/architects.htm
  8. Overview - Causes and preventionhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/slips/preventing.htm
  9. Overview - Contaminationhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/slips/cleancampaign.htm
  10. Cleaninghttps://www.hse.gov.uk/slips/cleaning.htm
  11. Flooringhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/slips/flooring.htm
  12. Overview - Footwearhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/slips/footprocure.htm
  13. Supplying slip-resistant footwearhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/slips/manufactfoot.htm
  14. Environmenthttps://www.hse.gov.uk/slips/environment.htm
  15. People (human factors)https://www.hse.gov.uk/slips/human-factors.htm
  16. Overview - Resourceshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/slips/information.htm
  17. Publicationshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/slips/publications.htm
  18. Overview - Toolshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/slips/tools.htm
  19. STEP eLearning packagehttps://www.hse.gov.uk/slips/step/index.htm
  20. Overview - Slips Assessment Tool (SAT)https://www.hse.gov.uk/slips/sat/index.htm
  21. Using SAThttps://www.hse.gov.uk/slips/sat/default.htm
  22. Research reportshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/slips/research.htm
  23. Case studieshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/slips/casestudies.htm
  24. Campaignshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/slips/campaigns.htm
  25. Useful linkshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/slips/links.htm
  26. Audio and videohttps://www.hse.gov.uk/slips/audiovideo.htm
  27. Subscribehttps://www.hse.gov.uk/slips/ebulletin/index.htm
  28. cleaninghttps://www.hse.gov.uk/slips/cleaning.htm
  29. Slips and trips - Hazard spotting checklisthttps://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/ck4.pdf
  30. Stop spills in kitchens: A good practice guidehttps://www.hse.gov.uk/slips/assets/docs/goodpractice.pdf
  31. Oily floors in engineering workshophttps://www.hse.gov.uk/slips/experience/oilyfloors.htm
  32. Tackling slips and trips in a further education establishmenthttps://www.hse.gov.uk/slips/experience/college.htm
  33. Carpet company fails to maintain their own carpetshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/slips/experience/carpetcompany.htm
  34. Further contamination case studieshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/slips/casestudies.htm#contamination
  35. Slips and trips - Hazard spotting checklisthttps://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/ck4.pdf
  36. Preventing slips and trips at work INDG 225 (rev1) https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg225.pdf
  37. Injury caused by a slip in a kitchenhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/slips/audiovideo.htm
  38. Virtual College: Slips, Trips and Falls Online Traininghttps://www.virtual-college.co.uk/resources/slips-and-trips
  39. CIRIAhttp://www.ciria.org.uk/
  40. Usdaw: Risk mapping for slips and tripshttp://www.usdaw.org.uk/CMSPages/GetFile.aspx?guid=2db107ca-4d5d-49a2-99dc-16e187a59e71
  41. Work at heighthttps://www.hse.gov.uk/work-at-height/index.htm
  42. Shattered Liveshttps://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20200912193450/https://www.hse.gov.uk/slips/shattered.htm
  43. Cleaninghttps://www.hse.gov.uk/cleaning/index.htm
  44. Stop Slips in Kitchenshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/slips/kitchens/index.htm
  45. RIDDOR - Report an incidenthttps://www.hse.gov.uk/riddor/index.htm

Glossary of abbreviations/acronyms on this page

RIDDOR
Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995

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2021-05-07