Darker evenings and colder weather can increase the risk of slips, trips and falls in the workplace. A business has a legal duty to ensure the health and safety of its staff, volunteers, contractors and users.
Slips and trips cause over a third of all major injuries and can also lead to other types of accidents, such as falls from height or into machinery.
At this time of year surfaces can be perilous, which means slip and trip accidents may become more frequent. There are plenty of seasonal factors to consider when avoiding these sorts of accidents including:
- poor lighting
- excess water from rain
- wet and decaying leaves
The Health and Safety Executive’s guidance helps you to understand what causes slips and trips and how to prevent them and their slips and trips webpages also provide plenty of further information and resources, including advice on what to do next if there has been a slip or trip accident at work.