SLIPS AND FALLS Slips and Falls Slips

SLIPS AND FALLS

Slips and Falls Slips resulting in falls often result in injuries; • Strained muscles or a twisted back when attempt to regain balance • Broken bones or fractures; Hands, arms, legs, hips etc. • Concussion, coma or death. • The older you are the slower you recover from a fall.

Slips and Falls A school dinner lady slipped on custard spilt on the wooden parquet floor just as the floor was being cleaned. She broke her leg and died later from a blood clot. Ref: HSE 2003 In the catering industry Slips account for 86%of the total of the slips and trip injuries. In 90% of the cases, the floor is wet.

Slips and Falls Alison Hockaday • Alison was an occupational therapy assistant at Winterton Hospital in South West Durham. • In Nov 1986 she twisted her knee after falling on wet leaves outside the hospital. The claim was settled in her favour in 1997, 11 years later. In March 1990, she slipped again, on a wet vinyl floor in the hospital, fracturing her ankle. She worked for two years before being retired on health grounds. • • She underwent many operations, her foot being amputated after the 31 st operation. • In 1997, after the 32 nd operation, her leg was amputated below the knee. • The Durham health authority finally settled the £ 600, 000 claim for compensation after 13 years of legal wrangling. • Legal costs have been estimated at £ 10 m after going to the House of Lords. • Before the accident she swam, jogged and represented her county at netball. She now sits in a wheelchair and has an artificial leg. She will never work as a nurse again

Slips and Falls • • Floor Condition, roughness, slipperiness Contamination Single, multilple or continuous events Footwear Male/female, sole material, heel size/height Pedestrian factors Distraction, disability, crowding, age/health, pushing/pulling, carrying. • Cleaning • Environment Regime, frequency, chemicals/dilution, floor dried after cleaning, equipment Glare, colour, surface condition, slopes etc.

Slips and Falls How to assess the slipperiness of a floor 1. Measure surface roughness 2. Measure slip resistance

Slips and Falls How do you measure surface roughness? • Drag a record needle across a surface. • Connect the needle to a meter • Take a reading in microns. » 1. 3 microns is smooth » 25 microns and above is rough and very good. » Below 12. 5 microns is dangerous when floor is wet!

Slips and Falls What instrument is used? Surtronic Duo The Duo splits into two parts. The measuring head is placed on the floor and measurement to be made via a ‘remote control’. Ten readings should be taken The results can then be fed into the HSE software and provide a quantifiable risk assessment. Rz = Surface roughness

Slips and Falls 1 4 6 5 7 2 3 9 10 8 The surface roughness is measured at the positions shown above to Ensure that differences caused by grain, directionality etc are captured.

Slips and Falls What surface roughness is OK? Below 10 microns Smooth surface 10 to 20 microns or above High risk Moderate risk Rough surface Low risk Below 12. 5 microns is dangerous when floor is wet!

Slips and Falls Taylors Law See your face in it Feel you’re a**e on it.

Slips and Falls Typical surface roughness Type of floor microns Polished terrazzo tiles 1. 3 Parquet floor 1. 6 Vitrified ceramic 2. 5 Unpolished terrazzo tiles 6. 4 Profiled ceramic tiles 8. 4 Quarry tiles 12. 5 Vinyl safety tiles 16. 5 Carborundum Quarry tiles 22. 6 Cork 54. 9

Slips and Trips Table of minimum roughness for typical workplace contaminants Minimum roughness 20 μm Contaminant Clean water, coffee, soft drinks 45 μm Soap solution, milk 60 μm Cooking stock 70 μm Motor oil, olive oil above 70 μm Gear oil, margarine

Slips and Falls How do you measure slip resistance? Use the pendulum coefficient of friction tester It was originally designed to simulate the action of a swinging foot and to measure the skid resistance of roads.

Slips and Falls It has a rubber foot that just touches the floor. The higher the swing, the lower slip resistance. The lower the swing the higher the slip resistance and the more grippy the floor.

Slips and Falls Very slippery Start position Very Grippy Low slip It has a rubber foot that just touches the floor. The higher the swing, the lower slip resistance. The lower the swing the higher the slip resistance. Over 0. 25 Rz is good.

Surface slip resistance Pendulum Value Slip Risk 0 – 0. 24 High 0. 25 – 0. 35 Moderate 0. 36 – 0. 64 Low 0. 65 + Extremely low

Surface slip resistance Type of floor Dry Wet Polished terrazzo (supermarkets 0. 52 0. 17 Parquet floor (schools etc) 0. 74 0. 1 Vitrified ceramic (kitchens) 0. 53 0. 2 Unpolished terrazzo 0. 52 0. 27 Profiled ceramic (safety floor? ) N/A 0. 21 Quarry tiles 0. 55 0. 41 Vinyl safety tiles 0. 56 0. 33 Carborundum Quarry 0. 65 0. 57 Cork 0. 65 0. 5

Combining Surface roughness and slip resistance Surface roughness Type of floor Slip resistance microns Dry Wet Polished terrazzo 1. 3 0. 52 0. 17 Parquet floor 1. 6 0. 74 0. 1 Vitrified ceramic 2. 5 0. 53 0. 2 Unpolished terrazzo 6. 4 0. 52 0. 27 Profiled ceramic 8. 4 N/A 0. 21 Quarry tiles 12. 5 0. 55 0. 41 Vinyl safety tiles 16. 5 0. 56 0. 33 Carborundum Quarry 22. 6 0. 65 0. 57 Cork 54. 9 0. 65 0. 5

Slips and Falls Typical Supermarket • £ 10 m paid out in claims annually • 25, 000 slips every year • 100 result in stays in hospital • 80% of shop floor incidents are slips

Slips and Falls The supermarket took action at the store entrance. 1) Improve the drying of customers’ footwear as they entered the store. 2) Identify when water was being walked onto the store floor. 3) Respond to and remove any ‘walk in’ water.

Slips and Falls A typical cleaning station to allow a rapid response to spillages.

16 Year Old Employee Flash Fries Arm • 16 year old slipped on water leaking from an ice-making machine. Put out her hand to break her fall. Unfortunately her hand went into the deep fat fryer containing oil at a temperature of 360°F • Severe burns to her left hand forearm.

• Pedestrian slipped over an unattended pool of water that had been left by the scrubber dryer. The pedestrian suffered head injuries and spent time recovering in hospital. • The soapy water was left unattended. • The floor surface was typical of that found in many shopping centre…………polished terrazzo tile

FAST FOOD company fined £ 60, 000 Restaurant workers scarred for life by boiling oil. Cook slipped in the kitchen, knocking over a deep fat fryer as he tried to break his fall. Covered in 35 litres of boiling oil 15 per cent burns to his chest, arms, buttocks, thighs and ankles. He struggled to escape the oil, but kept slipping back to the floor. As he was about to lose consciousness a trainee manager came to his aid. She was hit by the burning oil and suffered horrific scalding as frantic workmates tried in vain to ease their agony. In a desperate bid to stop her flesh from burning, a staff member threw soft drinks over her leg.

Slips and Falls • Slip Assessment Tool (SAT) • HSE have written a PC based package that allows a slip risk assessment to be used by “non-experts” • This gives a slip-risk assessment of the floor. • A hand held meter is used to measure the microroughness of the floor. • Further information is fed into the SAT, cleaning regime, floor type, condition of the floor (cleanliness and history), type of footwear, pedestrian factors etc. • It will help decide upon the slip risk. • The pendulum will be needed to assess just the floor.

Slips and Falls Slips and falls are a major source of injury, misery and cost and are seldom taken seriously. Falls happen because of a combination of factors – – – – The design and condition of the walking surface Cleaning and maintenance procedures Lighting Weather The person’s activity, fitness and eyesight. Footwear Sex

Slips and Falls Statistics show that more woman slip and fall than men. Women Generally wear smaller and narrower shoes than men, reducing the sole surface to grip the floor. They tend to wear shoes with more of a heel, perhaps adding an imbalance in some carrying situations. They also tend to have more shoes than men. Men Are usually more familiar with the footing they receive from their shoes as they wear the same pair more frequently.

Slips and Falls Walking is an enormously complex activity. You can walk safely on slippery surfaces if you know it’s slippy. Accidents happen when people slip on a floor that they assume is dry. Walking safely depends on: Style of footwear Sole material Footwear condition Suitability

Slips and Trips SUMMARY See your face in it Feel you’re a**e on it.