Workplace Floor Safety Tips

Workplace Floor Safety Tips

At least once in our lives we’ve fallen, slipped, and tripped. It can happen anywhere but it’s especially common in places that are prone to water leaks. It may sound funny sometimes, but it’s extremely dangerous and risky.

Overlooked wet floors can cause slips, fall downs, trips over protruding objects, and even a fall down the stairs. This could cause various injuries that range from a single bruise, minor sprains, to a more serious one which would require a call 911. 

According to the US Department of Labor, injuries caused by accidental trips, slips, and falls are the second highest cause of absences from work. From a financial view, it is estimated that around twenty-five percent cause of work absences are filed due to an employee tripped, slipped, or fell. This data imposes how giving importance to maintaining a safe work environment affects the overall productivity of the employees. 

Workplace Safety Tips

Here we listed ways on how you can prevent injuries from slips, falls, and trips and minimize employee injuries and other office accidents: 

Create a Risk Assessment Plan

A way to keep your workplace clean, organized, and risk-free is to create a plan. Assign specific individuals or teams to cleaning and maintenance duties. Understand that cleaning and maintenance is an important part of safety. 

With cleaning, you can conduct assessments to see if there are places that need additional cleaning, maintenance, or even repairs. This should be done as part of the routine and not after an accident to prevent any injuries. 

Post your cleaning plan in the area that is easily accessed by the employees. 

Keep Floors Clean and Dry

A report by the National Floor Institute says that around eighty-five percent of worker’s compensation claims are attributed to employees slipping on slick floors. 

Slick floors are caused by spills and newly mopped floors. It is important to always put a “wet floor” sign after mopping and spills to prevent injuries and accidental slips. 

Having moisture-absorbent mats can keep your floors dry especially if there are leaks that cause outside water to frequently seep in. Another solution would be using anti-skid 

adhesive tape. Anti-skid adhesive tapes are designed to provide additional traction on slippery surfaces. It is best used on slight inclines. 

Also, when you decide to have your carpets cleaned, we advise that you have encapsulation carpet cleaning done as this method has a low-moisture system. You may also use the carpet immediately.  

Avoid Creating Obstacles

Anything can become a trip hazard. It can be small as a pin or as big as a box, as long as it’s on the floor it can be a considered a trip hazard. 

To prevent injuries and accidental trips, it is necessary to impose a policy to continually check areas to make sure that the floors are free from clutter and obstacles. 

Here are other tips:

  • Keep high traffic areas clutter-free (service areas, storerooms, and hallways)
  • Keep the hose, cables, wires in the storage. Don’t leave them laying across the floor.
  • Close doors and drawers that are not in use. 
  • Clean up after pets: pee spills and their dirt could cause accidents when overlooked. 

Create and Maintain Proper Lighting

The risk of accidents increases when there is no adequate lighting. This is especially true in walkways, stairs, ramps, basements, and construction sites. During work hours, it is important to keep the construction site well-lit at all times to prevent accidents that could lead to injuries. 

Remind your employees to turn on the lights first before entering a dark room. This means that you should make sure that light switches are placed close to the entrance or the doors. You should also have your bulbs, cords, and light fixtures repaired or replaced immediately if needed. 

Require Proper Footwear

Whether you work in an office or on a construction site, wearing proper footwear will help prevent slips, trips, and falls. Some industries even provide their employees with specialized footwear as part of the uniform code. 

If safety shoes are not required, employees should consider footwear that has non-slip soles. It will help prevent injuries and even future embarrassment from a slip. If it is a must that you wear heels, make sure not to get caught on edges like rugs, concrete, and tile grout.  

Manage Human Behavior

Human behavior is unpredictable thus making it hard to control.

This step doesn’t impose that you control your employees. This simply means that you are responsible for reminding your employees of the risk of slip, trip, and fall accidents in the workplace and possible incidents that could lead to it. 

Here are some incidents that you could give as examples:

  • Walking too fast and being in a hurry. This increases the chance to slip, trip, or fall.
  • Taking shortcuts.
  • Using a cellphone while walking.
  • Carrying big materials that could obstruct vision.
  • Wearing sunglasses in low-light to dim areas.
  • Being distracted by random thoughts while walking. 

Remind your employees to stay alert and pay attention to their surroundings. 

Takeaways

Taking proactive steps to ensure the safety of the place is vital in preventing injuries in the workplace. It may seem impossible to prevent every slip and falls at work, but ensuring the place is safe may prevent the most grievous ones. 

One of the best ways to keep you and your employees safe is to hire a commercial cleaning company. Having experts who ensure that your safety is their top priority is a must. Having them take charge of the cleanliness and maintenance of your workplace will give you a peaceful mind and happy employees. 

Have some questions about workplace safety? Contact us.