Safety Tip of the Week – Walking and Working Surfaces

Many workers are injured every year due to slips, trips, or falls generated by improper walking and working surfaces. Most of these accidents can be prevented if proper safety precautions are initiated. Slips, trips, and falls can be caused by conditions such as ice, standing water, grease, polished floors, loose flooring or carpeting, uneven walking surfaces, poorly placed electrical cords, and damaged ladder steps.

Controls needed to prevent these hazards are simple, such as keeping walkways and stairs clear of debris, coiling up extension cords and hoses when not in use, keeping electrical and other wires out of the way, wearing appropriate footwear, and clearing parking lots, stairs, and walkways in snowy weather.

Potential hazards may be avoided by:

• Covering or guard floor holes as soon as they are created;

• Using a fall prevention (e.g. guard rails) or protection (fall arrest device) system if the workers are exposed to a fall; and

• Surveying the work site prior to start of work, and continually throughout the day, to identify and guard any openings or holes.

Ways to avoid creating slip and trip hazards are to:

• Wear work boots with slip resistant soles.

• Clean up any liquid spills right away.

• Ensure things you are carrying do not prevent you from seeing obstructions or spill.

  A spill, a slip, a hospital trip!!