lips and trips maybe seen and cost-effective.
by some as funny but they
are in fact the most common Northern Counties Insurance
cause of major injuries at work Brokers, the UK Insurance Broker
with over a third of all injuries and experts in risk management
reported each year caused by slip have produced these Top Tips on
or trip accidents. In fact slip how you can reduce your exposure
or trip accidents account for: to risk and with it your
insurance premiums.
20% of injuries where the
employee is absent for over 1. Planning
3-days
33% of all reported major By having an effective management
injuries system in place the key areas of
2 fatalities per year risk can be identified and goals
50% of all reported accidents to can be set to make improvements.
members of the public This should include selecting
A cost of £368 million per year equipment and work practices that
to employers in lost production contain slip and trip hazards and
and other costs if possible prevent them
occurring.
The highest rate of injuries
occurs in the food and drink, 2. Organisation
repair of consumer goods and
vehicle sectors. However with Get workers involved in and
almost all workplaces being committed to reducing risks. This
affected by this type of injury should involve giving people
and with most slips occurring due responsibilities to ensure that
to poor housekeeping, solutions areas of the workplace are kept
to the problem are often simple safe and then making sure
everyone is aware who is Step 2 – Decide who might be
responsible for each area. harmed and how. Are the people
who come into your workplace at
3. Control risk?
Keep a record of cleaning and Step 3 – Consider the risks – do
maintenance work and encourage you already have precautions to
good health and safety. deal with the risks?
4. Monitor and Review Step 4 – Record your findings if
you have 5 or more employees
Keep an accident log and
re-examine it on a regular basis Step 5 – Regularly review the
to learn from incidents that have assessment. If any changes take
occurred. place make sure that precautions
are in place to deal with the
5. Examine slip and trip risks risks
The Health and Safety Executive Mark Burdett of Northern Counties
recommend a 5 step approach to said, “When it comes to
risk management when dealing with preventing slips, trips and falls
slip and trip risks and these happening getting conditions
are: right from the start will make
dealing with risks easier. This
Step 1 – Look for slip and trip can include choosing the right
hazards around the workplace flooring, making sure lighting
(e.g., uneven floors, trailing levels are sufficient, avoiding
cables, areas that are sometimes overcrowding and making sure
slippery due to spillages) access routes are clear. By doing
this the chances of an accident
occurring will be greatly reduced for good health and safety many
and therefore so will your businesses could also save money
exposure to risk. And with on their Business Insurance
certain insurance companies now premiums”.
offering substantial discounts
About the Author:
The Top Tips to prevent injuries at work was produced by Mark Burdett, Marketing Manager at Northern Counties Insurance Brokers.
Read more articles by:
M Burdett
Article Source: www.iSnare.com 
