When it comes to the workplace, it’s important to remember that a lot of people consider it as an alternative home. After all, you spend almost eight hours here everyday, so it ought to have a homely atmosphere. However, just as you spend a lot of time here, that also means the workplace is indeed prone to accidents such as slips and falls. If unmitigated, this otherwise innocent sounding injury might lead to disastrous consequences.
In fact, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, slips and falls account for 24.93 percent of all injuries in 2017, where 54,450 of the 218,400 injuries that occurred that year coming from slips and falls. Keeping a proactive stance on preventing slips and falls in the workplace can save your company a lot of money, as employers most likely spent around $40,000 per slip and fall incident that occur in the workplace. Here are a few tips on how to do this:
- Observe your workplace and assess potential weak points. In this case, “weak points” are places around the workplace that can be prone to slips and falls. These can include places near stairs, doors, pantries, and bathrooms. Try to document the kind of objects and facilities used around the workplace and how prone they are into becoming risks of slips and falls. If there’s any risk of them becoming a cause of slips and falls, try adjusting their places accordingly.
- Check your records and interview previously injured staff. Chances are, you have an “accident book” where there’s a log of all incidents and accidents that happened in the office. Try to look for slips and falls and assess if there are common scenarios that lead to slips and falls, and try to start solving the problem there. Is there a particular place or activity that causes these slips and falls?
- Try to make sure the workplace is as tidy as possible, as according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, leading causes of falls, trips, and slips in the workplace include slippery surfaces, uneven flooring, depressions and holes, bunched floor mats, and even protruding boards and nails. As you can notice, these are things that can be solved by proper organization and tidying up, and as such an office built on the culture of cleanliness and orderliness can potentially save a lot of lives.
- Make sure you have facilities in place in the case of injuries. While all the above deal with “avoiding” slips and falls, this part deals with mitigating the impact of a slip and fall should it happen. The CDC added in their report that the most common injuries that occur from slips and falls include head injuries, hip fractures, and bruises. As such having a clinic with an in house physician, or at least easy access to hospitalization, can be a relief to workers who experience such injuries.
Conclusion
As a business owner, it’s just as important to know much about keeping your work environment safe as it is important to know how to profit for your business. As such, in as much as slips and falls seem “easy” to avoid, they still pose a grave enough threat for your business that they may still cause serious injuries. The measures above may hopefully give you a head start as to how you can keep your workplace much safer for your employees.
