6 Ways to Uncover Slip, Trip and Fall Hazards
Falls are no laughing matter. Here are six suggestions on how to ensure your workers are protected from falling down on the job. Falls are the second leading cause (after overexertion) of workplace injuries.
- Conduct a Formal Audit
Comprehensive safety audits are not uncommon in workplaces. Although they can be time-consuming, they are a proven way to uncover unsafe conditions, variations from standard operating procedures, areas that are in need of preventative maintenance and a host of other issues that need to be addressed to prevent the risk of employee injuries or illnesses.
However, many traditional safety audits don’t focus on or even include floor safety issues. With the issuance of OSHA’s revised walking-working surface regulation in 2016, this is beginning to change. Formal floor safety audits are not required, but facilities must inspect all walking-working surfaces “regularly and as necessary” [29 CFR 1910.22(d)(1)]. Inspections are, of course, not as encompassing as a full audit, but conducting an audit will help to uncover issues that may need to be addressed during regular inspections.
Floor safety audits may be conducted internally or externally by a formally trained walkway auditor. The National Floor Safety Institute maintains a list of certified walkway auditors who can conduct floor safety audits to help determine whether walking surfaces are likely to contribute to a slip and fall incident.
- Review Incident Reports
Incident reports are a lagging indicator, but in many cases, they can help to pinpoint areas where slips, trips and falls have occurred and therefore may reoccur at the facility if left unchecked. If, for example, several slip and fall injuries are happening at the loading dock, rather than focusing on the floor in the boardroom which is in decent shape and is only used once a month, it would make sense to focus attention on identifying and eliminating the hazards at the loading dock that are causing harm before another employee is injured in that area.
Like audit results, using the information from incident reports can help anyone doing routine inspections to know specifically what to look for in various areas of a facility. It can also make supervisors more aware of risks so that they can be monitored between inspections.
- Follow the Liquids
Liquids typically arrive at facilities in drums, cans and many other types of containers. They can also arrive in bulk shipments that are stored in tanks. Use a floor plan to track where and how liquids arrive, and where they go after their arrival. For liquids in containers, they may be taken from the loading dock and stored in a warehouse before being taken to an area where they are dispensed for use. After they are used, the spent liquids may be collected and stored again before being shipped for recycling or disposal.
Fluids that arrive in bulk usually flow through the facility in pipelines, but they take a similar path: storage in a tank, piping to the area where they are dispensed; then they’re transferred into a collection tank or container when spent. When liquids stay in their tanks, pipes, or containers, they don’t present a slip and fall hazard. However, leaks and drips are common and can create unexpected floor safety hazards.
Identifying areas where fluids are stored and transferred, and stocking spill response materials in these areas enables employees to quickly clean up small leaks, drips and spills as they happen so that they don’t present a slip and fall risk.
- Sponsor a Contest
Employees are an excellent resource for finding floor safety hazards. They know which floors are slippery. They know where they stubbed their toes on an uneven surface. They know which soap dispenser in the bathroom leaks onto the floor and where condensate drips from pipes in the production area.
Common floor safety issues may be overlooked because they’ve been around for ages and no one has given them much thought. Sponsoring a contest for employees to submit floor safety hazards can bring these problems to light so that they can be corrected. In this way, a contest can sometimes be as effective as a formal audit, but it takes less time and resources.
- Ask Vendors for Advice
Small changes may be all that are needed to make walking surfaces safer. This is often the case with floor cleaning and floor care products. If the facility has been operational for a while, there is a good chance that not much thought goes into floor care. The chemicals, tools and products used to clean the floor are often the ones that have been used since the building opened, and they are simply reordered as needed.
Floor care vendors are a great resource for new technologies and products that can help increase the coefficient of friction for nearly every type of flooring, making it safer and easier to maintain. They can also verify that the right products are being used for the types of flooring in the facility, and that each is being used correctly to maintain the floors. Simple changes in the amount of cleaning chemical used or the method used to clean a floor can also make it more slip-resistant and safer for everyone.
- Enlist Insurance Carriers
Because slips, trips and falls to the same level are the second leading cause of workplace injuries, insurance carriers see a lot of claims for these types of injuries. These claims are costly for them to reimburse, so they have a vested interest in helping employers to minimize them.
Most insurance carriers can provide information, inspection checklists and training to help facilities identify and eliminate slip, trip and fall hazards. Some will even help conduct floor safety audits at little or no cost.
In summary, whether your facility is ready to tackle a comprehensive audit or there are only time and resources to hit the one area where incidents have traditionally occurred, slip, trip and fall hazards can be identified and eliminated, minimizing risk and the potential for injuries.
Fire Extinguisher Barcode System
IMEC Inspection Software is an easy to use fire extinguisher barcode system which will schedule, manage, track and report on any type of inspection, including Facility, Equipment, People etc. Use Cases include fire extinguisher barcode system, eyewash stations, emergency showers, equipment or asset inspection system or facilities inspection software. When used as a fire extinguisher barcode system Inspections are performed via the Mobile app which is available on iOS, Android and Windows devices. The user identifies the inspection point by scanning a barcode, or picking from a list based on location. The Mobile App which is part of the fire extinguisher barcode system will then display the list of custom Forms or Checklists. The fire extinguisher barcode system inspections can be performed offline if no internet connection is available.
The IMEC Mobile Safety App can also be used as a Fire Door Inspection App and with the Web based flexible Forms Manager the solution can be used as a Fire Door Inspection Software Solution also. Fire Door Inspection Software is used is large facilities with large quantities of Fire Doors like Hospitals, Universities and also Cruise Ships.
Fire Life Safety Inspection Software Solution
IMEC Inspection Software can be deployed as a full Fire Life Safety Inspection Software solution that can be used to manage an organization’s full range of fire and life safety inspections. The IMEC Fire Life Safety Inspection Software can manage any type of inspection, use cases include Fire Doors, Fire Pumps, Eyewash Stations, Emergency Lights, Emergency Showers, Grease Traps, AED’s and many more. The IMEC Fire Life Safety Inspection Software can manage any type safety equipment or asset inspection. The user identifies the inspection point by scanning a barcode, or picking from a list based on location. The Mobile App will then display the list of custom Forms or Checklists.
Asset Inspection Management Software
IMEC’s Asset Inspection Management Software can be used to manage any type of Asset Inspection. This Asset Inspection Management Software solution can create corrective actions as a result of asset inspection failures for inspections. Corrective actions are allocated to the appropriate persons, with deadlines for resolution which will greatly reduce the time, effort and cost of managing compliance inspections. Implementing an Asset Inspection management software solution, where users using a Mobile App can easily perform inspections in the field aids compliance, reduces risk and standardizes the inspection process within your organization.
IMEC Technologies provides Safety Management Software to increase worker safety and aid compliance. IMEC’s Safety Management Software will manage inspections and audits, provides hazard identification, incident reporting, management of corrective and preventative actions from generation to closure. IMEC provides lock out tag out software solutions that will allow users to create lockout tagout procedures using an intuitive Mobile App and Manage Lockout Tagout Procedures, also the Review and Execution of those Lockout Tagout Procedures using the Mobile App. Annual Lockout Tagout Procedures audits are conducted using a Mobile App. The Mobile Inspection App allow users to perform inspections and audits, for example the system can be used as a Fire Extinguisher Barcode Inspection Software system to manage monthly fire extinguisher inspections and general fire safety inspections and also to record safety observations and manage corrective actions, anywhere and anytime. The solution can be used as a fire extinguisher barcode inspection software system or life safety inspection system to aid compliance in Higher Education, Healthcare, Industrial and Commercial Organizations. Benefits from a Fire Extinguisher Barcode System include the elimination of paperwork and reducing the burden of compliance with regulations such as NFPA, The Joint Commission. The Incident Reporting App allows users to easily and quickly report incidents, hazards and near-misses, these are then sent to the appropriate people for action and are managed to closure. Web Apps provide features such as, setup, management, scheduling tools, analysis, reporting and dashboards etc with the ability to report incidents to government bodies such as OSHA and RIDDOR. HazMat T&T is a hazardous waste management software solution designed for Environmental Service Companies and companies who generate a large quantity of hazardous waste. The solution tracks hazardous waste from cradle to grave aiding compliance, providing accurate waste inventory, increasing waste handling efficiency, reducing risk and also helps manage waste costs. HazMat T&T Hazardous Waste Management Software can be deployed in a number of deployment scenarios, from Large Hazardous Waste Generators, tracking their hazardous waste at their site to Environmental Service and Waste Management Companies using it track and manage hazardous waste at transfer and disposal sites. For more information visit our website www.imectechnologies.com