Winter Gritting - Prevention of Icy Surfaces - Walkways / Road Surfaces / Car Parks
Controlling slips and trips in winter weather conditions
As we all know, cold weather can cause frost and ice to form, which can create icy walkways, icy road surfaces, icy fire exit walkways and icy car parks.
HSE statistics show pedestrian slipping and tripping to be the most common cause of injuries in UK workplaces, they account for the highest number of work related major injuries and occur across all industry sectors. As a result, the Health and Safety Commission has included slips and trips as a priority topic in the Government's Health and Safety campaign.
Nearly 11,000 workers suffered serious injury as a result of a slip or trip in 2006/07. (Source: http://www.hse.gov.uk/slips - Shattered Lives)
The Slips and Trips Programme was created in order to develop a national strategy that would achieve a reduction in the number of fatal and major injury accidents caused by slips and trips by 10% by 2010.
By the end of 2007/08 the programme aims to deliver an annual reduction of 525 fewer major injuries from slips and trips. It will also contribute indirectly to a 9% reduction in the number of working days lost.
The programme also identified the biggest barriers to getting management and workers to address slips and trips effectively and these were:
- Not taking the risk seriously
- Not understanding the causes of slipping and tripping
- Thinking that slips and trips are inevitable
- Poor management control
Environmental issues can increase the risk of slips and trips, so it is important to take them into consideration.
What can your business do to stop slip accidents happening in icy conditions?
Slip and trip accidents increase during the Autumn and Winter season for a number of reasons: there is less daylight, leaves fall onto paths and become wet and slippery and cold weather spells cause ice and snow to build up on paths making them icy. There are effective actions that you can take to reduce the risk of a slip or trip in these icy conditions. Regardless of the size of your site, always ensure you tackle icy conditions.