The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) which is part of the governmental structure in the United Kingdom publishes information and regulations on health and safety measures.   They wrote an article on preventing slips, trips and falls in the workplace entitled “Slips and Trips: The importance of floor cleaning.” The article talked about how with proper measures including management systems, contamination control and obstacle removal, most slips and trips can be avoided in the workplace. This was a really good workplace safety article and basically gave any safety manager in any country a clear cut idea on how to properly clean in order to prevent any slip and fall accidents in the workplace.

The article states that with any workplace safety process, a good management system should be in place to make sure the cleaning process is being properly implemented, identifying any problems, and ensuring that effective communication is happening between upper management, purchasing, cleaning companies and employees.   This seems like a given, however many companies may not think they need this much planning and consideration for cleaning methods, however the HSE clearly believes that the cleaning system within a company is the number one way to eliminate slip, trips and falls.

Contamination control is the second suggestion the HSE states can minimize workplace safety issues.  I only thought of contamination control as employees trying to keep substances off the floor caused by the work environment itself, or contaminants being brought in from the outside of a building to the inside of a building.  The article talks about how contaminants can be caused by the cleaning methods themselves.  If a bucket is placed too far away from a spill, the dripping caused by the mop can cause a very dangerous slip and fall situation.  If the wrong amount of detergent is used on an area, proper cleaning may not take place causing concern for walkers.  If a squeegee is used improperly it may leave a thin layer of oil or water over a surface causing a safety issue.   This is one reason the article suggests making sure the proper cleaning techniques are used in the proper areas in order to prevent slip and falls in the work place.

One of the easiest ways to reduce slip, trips and falls in the workplace according to the HSE is by removing any objects such as cables, cords and rubbish from the workplace.   It also mentions that uneven floors, poor lighting and clutter around workstations are cause for concern.   This seems like something that all levels of a company can contribute to.

Clearly cleaning is important in preventing slips, trips and falls in the workplace.  If your company has not placed as much importance on cleaning as they should, this would be a great article to reference.

Health and Safety Executive. “Slips and Trips: the importance of floor cleaning.” Sept. 2005 http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/web/slips02.pdf

Filed under: Safety Tips, Workplace Safety by Beth Faraci