slips and trips common

• Weill Cornell Medicine

Slips, Trips, and Falls: Understanding, Preventing, and Mitigating Risks

By Gian Joseph, Safety Advisor

As we enter the rainy and cold season, we face several risks , which include slips , trips, and fall s in our day-to-day activities. It is important t o be aware of hazards around us and learn how to properly identify and assess any risks with each step.  

Slips, trips, and falls (STFs) are common accidents that can lead to severe injuries. These incidents occur in various settings, from homes and workplaces to public spaces , and i t is essential to understand the causes, consequences, and , most importantly, strategies for prevention and mitigation.   

1. Understanding the Dynamics of STFs. STFs are caused by the following .  

Insu fficient friction between the shoe and the walking surface. Common causes include wet or greasy floors, spills, and loose debris (Slip and Fall Accidents, 2021).  

When a person's foot collides with an object or an uneven surface, it caus es them to lose balance. Typical trip hazards include cluttered walkways, electrical cords, uneven flooring, and damaged or upturned mats (Slip and Fall Accidents, 2021).  

2. The Impact of STFs  

Slips, trips, and falls have far-reaching effects, affecting individuals and society . Personal i njuries range from minor cuts , bruises, sprains , and abrasions to fractures, dislocations, and head injuries (National Safety Council, 2021). The medical expenses associated with treating STF-related injuries can be substantial , including hospital stays, surgeries, rehabilitation, and ongoing care (National Safety Council, 2021). STFs can result in missed workdays and reduced productivity for both individuals and employers. Workers' compensation claims and absenteeism contribute to economic costs (National Safety Council, 2021). Lastly, t he physical and psychological consequences of STFs can limit mobility, independence, and overall quality of life, especially among older adults ( Sahyoun et al., 2020).  

3. Prevention and Mitigation Strategies  

Preventing and mitigating STFs involves a combination of awareness, environmental modifications, and education . H ere are some ways you can take precaution s against STFs in your daily activities;  

Clear Pathways: Maintain clear, unobstructed walkways by removing clutter and tripping hazards such as cords, toys, and loose rugs (Occupational Safety and Health Administration [OSHA], 2002).  

Adequate Lighting: Ensure proper lighting in all areas, both indoors and outdoors, to improve visibility and reduce the risk of tripping over obstacles (OSHA, 2002).  

Slip-Resistant Flooring: Install slip-resistant flooring materials, especially in areas prone to moisture, like bathrooms and kitchens (OSHA, 2002).  

Footwear: Encourage the use of proper footwear with good traction, especially in environments where slip hazards are prevalent ( Sahyoun et al., 2020).  

Handrails and Guardrails: Install and maintain handrails and guardrails on stairs, ramps, and elevated platforms to provide support and prevent falls (OSHA, 2002).  

Warning Signs: Use signage to alert individuals to potential hazards, such as wet floors or uneven surfaces (OSHA, 2002).  

Education and Training: Promote awareness and provide training to individuals on recognizing and avoiding STF hazards (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health [NIOSH], 2015).  

Workplace Safety: Employers should implement safety protocols and conduct risk assessments in the workplace, addressing potential STF risks (NIOSH, 2015).  

Regular Maintenance: Routinely inspect and maintain buildings, walkways, and outdoor areas to identify and address potential hazards promptly (NIOSH, 2015).  

4. A Holistic Approach to STF Prevention  

Preventing and mitigating STFs require a collaborative approach involving individuals, organizations, and communities:  

Individuals : Exercise caution when walking, especially in unfamiliar or potentially hazardous environments. Wear appropriate footwear and take your time, especially in wet or slippery conditions ( Sahyoun et al., 2020).  

Employers: Create a safe work environment by identifying and mitigating STF risks. Provide training to employees on safety protocols and the proper use of equipment (OSHA, 2002).  

Property Owners and Managers: Ensure properties are well-maintained and free from hazards. Regularly inspect and address issues promptly (NIOSH, 2015).  

Government and Local Authorities: Enforce building codes and regulations that promote safety, especially in public spaces and commercial buildings (OSHA, 2002).  

Conclusion  

Slips, trips, and falls are preventable accidents that carry substantial personal, economic, and societal costs. By comprehending the causes, consequences, and prevention strategies, we can significantly reduce the incidence of STFs and mitigate their impact. Whether at home, at work, or in public spaces, prioritizing safety and fostering awareness about STFs is crucial for the well-being of individuals and communities. Let us strive collectively to create environments where everyone can move safely and confidently, free from the fear of falling.  

References:  

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). (2015). Preventing Slips, Trips, and Falls in Wholesale and Retail Trade Establishments. https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2015-100/pdfs/2015-100.pdf  

National Safety Council. (2021). Injury Facts. https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/work/overview/work-safety-introduction/work-...  

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). (2002). OSHA Publication 3151-12R. Preventing Slips, Trips, and Falls in Wholesale and Retail Trade Establishments. https://www.osha.gov/Publications/osha3151.pdf  

Sahyoun , N. R., Pratt, L. A., & Lentzner , H. (2020). The Changing Profile of Nursing Home Residents: 1985-1997. Journal of Aging and Health, 12(3), 336-363.  

Slip and Fall Accidents. (2021). InjuryClaimCoach.com. https://www.injuryclaimcoach.com/slip-and-fall-accidents.html  

Please note that the sources cited are accurate as of the time of writing this article. For the most current information, consult authoritative sources and local health authorities.  

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Prevent Workplace Slips, Trips, and Falls—8 Safety Tips

Mopping up a spill or double-checking a guardrail might seem like simple common sense, but slips, trips, and falls are the second most common cause of death at work. These are life-saving procedures. Keep reading for practical tips to prevent workplace accidents.

• Slip, Trip, and Fall Hazards Listed
• Clarifying OSHA Standards
• Prevent Workplace Slips, Trips, and Falls

These are familiar scenarios at home: slipping on a wet floor in the kitchen and tripping over a toy left out by the kids. While annoying, these accidents are typically minor hazards in the home. You might stub your toe, but rarely are there severe consequences.

In the workplace, it’s a different and far more serious story. Slips, trips, and falls account for over 200,000 workplace injuries per year. In 2020, nearly one in five accidents leading to missed work was due to a slip, trip, or fall. They’re also the second-leading cause of workplace fatalities.

As a safety leader, you’re responsible for your company’s duty of care and for providing a safe workplace . This blog post will examine common hazards leading to slips, trips, and falls and the steps you can take to minimize injury risks for your team.

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What are slip, trip, and fall hazards in the workplace.

Accidents involving slips, trips, and falls are often grouped together. While they’re similar, it’s important to understand the distinction since they each have different causes and consequences.

Slips occur when someone’s footwear loses traction with the surface they’re on, causing a loss of balance. Under some circumstances, slipping can lead to a fall.

Trips happen when someone hits their foot or lower leg on an object. As their upper body continues moving forward while their lower body remains stationary, the person may lose their balance in the process.

Falls often result from slips or trips, but they can also happen on their own. For example, a worker on a ladder or scaffolding can lose their balance and fall without slipping or tripping. Falls are also possible on flat surfaces and can still cause serious injuries.

Once you understand the hazards that lead to each type of accident, you can identify and mitigate risks in your workplace. Here are some of the most common causes of slips, trips, and falls in the workplace:

Slip Hazards

• Spills of wet or dry substances
• The cleaning process during spill removal
• Employees rushing or not paying attention to workplace conditions, especially while carrying objects
• Slippery floor surfaces such as marble or laminate
• Wet surfaces
• Poor lighting that obscures hazards
• Inappropriate footwear for the environment
• Transitioning between different types of surfaces

Trip Hazards

• Objects or obstructions in walkways
• Uneven surfaces on flooring or concrete
• Cables, cords, and hoses that aren’t properly secured or organized
• Unmarked steps or ramps
• Irregular stairs or stairs without railings
• Carpet, rugs, or mats with wrinkles or lifted edges

Fall Hazards

• Improperly used or poorly maintained ladders
• Elevated surfaces without guardrails
• Floor and wall openings
• Working in elevated environments without a safety harness
• Ill-fitting or improperly used PPE, such as helmets and safety lines

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Are There OSHA Standards Related to Slips, Trips, and Falls?

Despite how common these injuries are, there is no specific OSHA standard on slips, trips, and falls. However, several OSHA rules indirectly address the same hazards.

The most important regulation to be aware of is 29 CFR 1910 Subpart D, which covers walking and working surfaces. OSHA updated the standard in 2017, introducing many upgrades to fall protection system requirements, improved employer-provided inspection guidelines, and a greater emphasis on safety training for employees.

For the construction industry, 29 CFR 1916 contains numerous fall-related regulations. Subpart M specifically addresses fall prevention, but other sections, such as Subpart L (scaffolds) and Subpart E (personal protective and lifesaving equipment), are also relevant. OSHA used 29 CFR 1916 as guidance when revising 29 CFR 1910, so the two guidelines now reflect many of the same OSHA violations .

As with any other workplace hazard or accident, OSHA recordkeeping requirements still apply in the event of a slip, trip, or fall incident. Internally, the reporting process is also an opportunity to review the details of the incident and determine how you can update your workplace safety policy to prevent similar accidents in the future.

How to Prevent Slips, Trips, and Falls in the Workplace

Many hazards that cause slips, trips, and falls are inevitable. However, injuries and accidents are not. To prevent slips, trips, and falls, train your employees to follow a three-step process:

• Recognize the hazard: Identify conditions that could lead to a slip, trip, or fall.
• Evaluate the hazard: Examine the situation and determine what level of risk it presents and who it affects.
• Control the hazard: Avoid the risk by removing the hazard (such as mopping up a spill) or implementing safety equipment and procedures (such as installing handrails on an elevated platform).

Here are eight workplace safety tips to prevent falls, trips, and slips.

1. Teach situational awareness

Since many causes of slips, trips, and falls are foreseeable, situational awareness in the workplace is one of the best preventative measures. Encourage your employees to pay attention to their surroundings and the risks they present:

• Look at walking surfaces for spills, obstacles, or other potential hazards
• Watch for signage that warns of increased hazards
• Be aware of conditions such as weather or time of day that might increase the risk of an accident
• Take shorter and more cautious steps on slippery surfaces

2. Encourage proper footwear

Like any other form of PPE, proper footwear can significantly reduce the risk of accidents. Research has found that slip-resistant shoes can reduce injury claims by 67% in environments with slippery work surfaces.

Employees should regularly inspect their shoes and make sure the soles aren’t worn out, as the lack of tread increases the danger of slipping. Additionally, anyone who works in conditions exposed to winter weather hazards should wear insulated boots. Cold temperatures can decrease muscle function, increasing the risk of slipping, tripping, or falling.

3. Utilize signage

Signage is an effective warning system for many workplace risks, but it can be especially effective in preventing slips, trips, and falls. There are two types of signs you can use to increase occupational safety:

• Temporary: Use warning signs while addressing a new hazard, such as cleaning up a spill, repairing a handrail, or replacing a ripped carpet. While temporary signage can help prevent injuries, you still need to address the actual hazard as quickly as possible.
• Permanent: For unavoidable hazards, such as slippery surfaces, a permanent sign can help warn employees to be careful. Use these sparingly, though, as it’s easy for people to ignore signs they see every day.

4. Keep floors clear and clean

Good housekeeping can help prevent most slips, trips, and falls. The details of keeping walking areas clean will vary widely by work environment, but there are a few common themes to encourage workplace safety:

• Report spills immediately, and warn nearby employees until someone can clean the contaminated surface
• Keep walkways clear of obstacles, loose objects, and anything that someone could trip over
• Place mats at entrances and exits so people can dry their shoes and avoid tracking water or other substances around the workplace
• Install handrails on stairways and elevated walkways

5. Apply non-slip mats and coatings

In some situations, keeping floors from becoming slippery is nearly impossible. Whether it’s liquid splashing or steam condensing, you must focus on mitigating the risk rather than avoiding it altogether.

For smaller or less demanding settings, non-slip mats can help employees maintain traction while walking around. In other cases, treating the floor with a permanent coating can help reduce slipping risks, even in the constant presence of liquids.

Who is at risk for slips, trips, and falls?

While all industries have some level of risk for a slip, trip, or fall, there are some industries where the risk is much higher, and the potential result could be much more dangerous. Here are some of the highest-risk industries:

• Construction
• Manufacturing
• Transportation/shipping/logistics
• Outdoor maintenance/groundskeeping
• Foodservice/hospitality

6. Ensure proper lighting

To identify slip, trip, and fall hazards, your employees need to be able to see their surroundings. Make sure that all of your work areas have proper lighting, especially in areas that are more prone to unsafe conditions.

While this can be a challenge in outdoor work environments, especially at night, it’s even more critical in those situations. Environmental conditions can lead to increased risks, and employees need to be able to see and avoid them. Adequate lighting should also extend to parking lots and walking areas around your facilities.

7. Develop safety programs

Your company’s safety plans and programs should include specific guidelines for preventing slips, trips, and falls. There are a few key topics to consider when developing these policies:

• The types of surfaces employees work and walk on and whether they present extra risks
• Seasonal or regional conditions that could heighten hazards, such as winter weather threats
• Specific OSHA regulations that apply to your workplace
• Potentially hazardous equipment training such as ladder safety
• Regular inspection plans to ensure your team is maintaining a safe work environment
• Policies to report hazards using your company’s two-way communication platform
• First aid training , so employees are prepared to respond safely should injuries occur

8. Provide Slips, Trips, and Falls Training

Lastly, training your employees to avoid slips, trips, and falls will help keep them safe. Provide specific guidance on the environments they’ll work in and the hazards they’ll face. For example, a slips, trips, and falls safety talk for food service workers should focus on wet floors and walking safely in crowded, fast-paced environments. Conversely, office workers could use extra reminders to watch for stray power cords and keep walkways clear of boxes, files, and other tripping hazards.

Working slips, trips, and falls into your safety topics for meetings is also helpful. Regular safety talks or safety moments are an excellent opportunity to remind your team about seasonal risks or update them on newly installed safety measures.

Don’t Let Your Safety Standards Slip

Slips, trips, and falls are some of the most common workplace injuries. Fortunately, you can usually prevent them with proper planning and safety measures.

By making slip, trip, and fall prevention a part of your company’s safety culture, you can ensure your employees are aware of their surroundings and ready to look out for each other’s safety. Enable them to report hazards easily, address risks quickly, and train them to avoid situations that are likely to cause injury.

With the right planning and prevention, even the most intense work environments can be as safe as a walk in the park.

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25th July, 2023

14 Causes Of Slips Trips And Falls In The Workplace

Around 30% of workplace injuries are caused by slips, trips and falls on the same level. But what's causing this huge amount of accidents at work? Here are 14 causes of slips trips and falls that led to around 170,000 injuries in the UK last year.

Slips, trips and falls on the same level might not seem like a major issue. You don't have that far to fall. So apart from the obvious embarrassment if other people are watching - where's the harm?

It's estimated around 170,000 injuries in the UK in 2021/22 were from slips, trips and falls on the same level - 30% of all non-fatal injuries - according to HSE statistics . And over 18,000 of those are reported injuries.

That's more than a little embarrassment. Did you have a nice trip? No, I'm in agony. I spent 9 hours in A&E and I'll be off work for a month.

It's not just minor injuries that result from slips, trips and falls. Reported injuries are generally more serious injuries involving things like broken bones, dislocations, or more than seven days off work.

So what's causing these accidents? Here are 14 common causes of slips and trips at work:

• Slippery floors
• Dusty floors
• Loose mats and floor coverings
• Unsuitable footwear
• Icy conditions
• Loose flooring
• Uneven flooring
• Obstructions
• Trailing cables
• Bad lighting
• Poor housekeeping

The causes of slips, trips and falls are often easy, and cheap, to fix. Simple quick actions, like cleaning up a spillage, or moving a cable, can eliminate the risk.

Removing a slip or trip hazard is often all it takes to stop the problem before someone gets hurt.

Causes of slips

Slips can be caused by a variety of things, not just the obvious spillages. Let's look at some common examples you might find in your workplace.

1. Wet floors

Wet floors can be caused by a variety of things. Spillages are an obvious culprit. Cleaning activities can also create wet floor surfaces.

When it's raining outside, entrance areas can become wet as rain travels in from people's shoes and clothing.

Poorly maintained buildings may also leak and let rain and wet weather conditions in from the outside.

2. Slippery floors

Glossy, polished floor tiles can be a slip hazard if they are used in an unsuitable place, like a bathroom or entrance, where the floor may become wet.

If footwear with smooth soles, or socks are worn, the flooring may be slippy even in dry conditions.

3. Dusty floors

It's not just liquids that can cause slips. Dusty surfaces can also create a slip hazard, preventing shoes from gripping the floor.

Some work activities like sawing wood or breaking up materials can generate loose fragments or dust that create a slippery surface on top of the floor.

4. Loose mats and floor coverings

Some mats create a slip hazard if they don't grip well with the surface underneath. Step on it in the wrong way and it can slide from under you. Ouch!

Workers might also try to temporarily protect a new floor with sheets or cardboard. If floor protection is not secured to the surface, it can also slip and slide underneath you.

5. Unsuitable footwear

Ever tried running in slippers, or socks? It's not recommended.

Shoes with a slippery sole aren't going to help you avoid slip hazards. They become one.

6. Icy conditions

Working outdoors in winter, or in cold environments?

Ice is a slippery surface, even for the most robust footwear. Make sure you consider the possibility of ice forming on surfaces causing a slip hazard .

7. Wet ground

Speaking of working outside, in wet weather the ground can become slippery, especially in grassy or muddy areas.

In autumn, wet leaves on paths can also increase the risk of slips.

Causes of trips

Now you know what to look out for when it comes to causes of slips, but what about trips? Trip hazards can happen in any type of work environment, and it's not just cables you need to look out for.

1. Obstacles

Leaving materials, tools or equipment lying around, especially in walkways, are a common cause of trips at work. You need to use tools to work, but placing a tool or material in the wrong place can be unexpected to someone else.

Packaging and waste materials are also common causes of trip hazards at work.

2. Loose flooring

So we mentioned loose mats and floor coverings can be a slip hazard. They can also be a trip hazard.

• a rug curled up at the corners
• a loose floorboard sticking up
• an unsecured tile lifting up
• a temporary floor covering

3. Uneven flooring

When you are walking along a familiar pathway, looking forward, you might not notice uneven flooring ahead of you.

Potholes, broken slabs, cracked surfaces, and uneven paving on footpaths can create trip hazards where you don't expect them.

4. Obstructions

Obstructions are like obstacles but fixed rather than temporary. Examples of obstructions include:

• floor-mounted socket covers left open

You might not realise an obstruction is there until you trip up - that's what makes it a trip hazard. And it's why you see those yellow mind-the-step signs, that you also didn't see until it was too late.

5. Trailing cables

Electricity is everywhere, or at least it feels like we need it everywhere. But unless you are using wireless equipment, you need to plug it in.

And, that cable that you use, might just get in someone else's way. Be mindful when using mobile cabled equipment, because when you're moving around, so does the cable.

6. Bad lighting

Obstacles and obstructions are worse if you can't see them. If you can't see them, you can't avoid them.

Hopefully, they won't be there to begin with, but good lighting helps identify hazards and gives you a chance to clear them away before they cause an accident.

Lighting can also be used to help highlight changes in floor level.

7. Poor housekeeping

Poor housekeeping is a leading cause of slips, trips and falls at work because if you don't clean up after yourself, you get more of those obstacles we talked about earlier.

Removing waste and cleaning up regularly can help keep your workplace free from slip and trip hazards.

Now you know the causes, it's easy to see how a quick tidy-up of spillages and obstacles can prevent many slips and trips from happening. Our simple guide to slips and trips at work can help you spot slip and trip hazards and fix them before they cause an accident.

Reducing the risk of slips, trips and falls at work is not a one-time thing. But regular housekeeping can keep you on top of those hazards.

Regular maintenance will help remove broken, loose or frayed floor coverings, and highlight when flooring needs replacing.

Highlighting changes in floor levels or surfaces, and providing handrails can also increase safety where slip and trip hazards can't be fully removed.

Keeping your workforce aware of the dangers can also help increase compliance with housekeeping practices, cleaning up spillages, removing obstacles and wearing the right footwear. Download the free slip and trip toolbox talk to help raise awareness in your workplace.

This article was written by Emma at HASpod . Emma has over 10 years experience in health and safety and BSc (Hons) Construction Management. She is NEBOSH qualified and Tech IOSH.

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Slips, trips & falls

Slips, trips, and falls put workers at risk of sprains, strains, bruises, concussions, and fractures. Falls often result from slipping or tripping.

Slips happen where there is not enough grip or traction between the footwear and the walking surface. This can be a result of water, oil, grease, or dust on the floor. Loose rugs or mats, floors with varying traction, and the wrong footwear can also cause slips.

Trips and falls can happen when people lose their balance after their feet collide with objects. Common tripping hazards in the workplace include:

• Damaged or worn carpets, rugs, and mats
• Uneven flooring
• Cluttered walkways
• Uncovered cables
• Poor lighting
• Obstructed views

See our resources for information about reducing the risk of slips, trips, and falls.

Preventing Slips, Trips, and Falls in the Workplace

This book, written for employers and joint health and safety committees, describes common misconceptions about slips, trips, and falls as well as the factors that contribute to their causes. It also...

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• Slips, trips, and falls are B.C.’s costliest workplace incidents: WorkSafeBC Published on: October 24, 2023

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Preventing Slips, Trips and Falls

Learn what you can do to prevent and control slip, trip and fall hazards in the workplace.

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Slip, trip and fall hazards, for more information.

Slips, trips and falls can happen in any workplace, and should not be overlooked. They can cause:

• Minor injuries such as sprains and strains.
• Broken bones due to the impact when trying to break the fall.
• Back injuries due to the impact from the fall.
• Cuts if the incident occurs near sharp objects.
• Head injuries if the person hits the head upon impact.
• Burns if the incident occurs near hot surfaces, or if the person is handling hot fluids.
• Death in more serious cases. For example, a person may slip and fall off an open side of a building if it is not barricaded.

The table below lists:

• Hazards associated with slips, trips and falls.
• Examples of risk control measures that your risk assessment team can take to minimise or eliminate the risks associated with these hazards.

Employer's Role

• Conduct Risk Assessments (RA) to eliminate or minimise slip, trip and fall risks.
• Maintain a safe work environment (e.g. by selecting the right type of non-slip flooring and providing sufficient illumination at the workplace).
• Provide employees with personal protective equipment (e.g. non-slip work shoes), training, instruction and supervision for relevant work activities.

To improve workplace practices, you should also:

• Establish clear standards for workplace housekeeping and set an expectation for employees to maintain them. Refer to the WSH Guidelines on Workplace Housekeeping for more information.
• Conduct routine workplace inspections to confirm that all hazards have been addressed, and to ensure that your risk control measures have been effectively implemented.
• Encourage employees to report near-miss incidents so that you can prevent future accidents.
• Encourage employees to submit ideas on slip, trip and fall prevention through a WSH staff suggestion scheme.

Employee's Role

• Adhere to safe work procedures and instructions.
• Not endanger yourself or others with unsafe behaviour (e.g. running across a wet floor or using a handphone while walking down the stairs).
• Use personal protective equipment (e.g. non-slip work shoes) provided by your company.
• Clean up all spills promptly.
• Keep walkways and staircases free of obstacles.
• Keep the floor in the work area dry, clean and free from clutter.
• Tape down power cords or cables to prevent tripping.
• Report any hazards you spot (e.g. damaged floor tiles, curled mats), and place a warning sign to alert others before the hazard is removed.
• Report all near misses and accidents promptly to your employer.
• Submit suggestions on slip, trip and fall prevention.
• ABC Checklist – Slips, Trips and Falls

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How to Avoid Slips, Trips, and Falls Caused By Weather

Slips, trips, and falls due to weather

What is the most common cause of slips, trips, and falls , why is it important to prevent slips, trips, and falls in the workplace .

It’s important to prevent slips, trips, and falls in the workplace because a safe working environment not only makes everyone more comfortable, but it also increases productivity . Along with notifying your supervisor of any weather-related hazards, also be sure to lookout for common safety issues.  “When we visit a client’s worksite, often we’ll see little pieces of plastic tape on the ground or pieces of paper, those are trip hazards too. The approach should be ‘see something, say something’,” says Morgan. 

Who is responsible for creating a safe work environment?

Ultimately, employers are responsible for creating a safe work environment.

“An employer is responsible for ensuring that their facility is free from any recognized hazards. This includes anything that has to do with their facility including power outages, clearing the parking lot and walkways. If trees are down, they are responsible for communicating with the local utility company to have them cleared,” says Morgan. 

While workplace safety is an employer responsibility, we all play a role in keeping one another safe at work.  “I know that it's sort of sometimes cliche, but we should be each other's keeper. If an employee recognizes a hazard, they should do everything they can to bring it to the attention of the employer,” says Morgan.

How to avoid slips, trips, and falls during winter 

The key to avoiding slips, trips, and falls is being aware and proactive. Becoming complacent in your work can lead to accidents. Stay updated on your company's safety procedures and follow the following tips from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and NSC on how to avoid slips, trips, and falls in the workplace.

• Place wet clothing and outerwear in areas where they dry safely
• Scan you work area for potential hazards before starting work
• If working outside, check the weather forecast — never work in inclement weather
• Wear the proper equipment for the job and tools being used 
• Practice safe walking skills, use short, controlled steps
• Call out any hazards to your supervisors immediately

“Employers must empower their workers to use their voice when it comes to recognizing safety hazards. Contract employees should remember that they can also reach out to their Aerotek representatives. We also have a safety hotline where they can share their concerns,” says Morgan. It’s important to remember there are risks associated with all seasons and winter presents unique safety hazards. It’s an employer’s role to provide a safe workplace, but we all can be more proactive in noticing and reporting potential hazards. This helps keep you and your team safe in the workplace. To learn more about Aerotek’s health and safety services, contact us today . 

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10 Simple Ways to Prevent Slips, Trips, and Falls

Slips, trips, and falls are the leading causes of time lost in the workplace. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited fall protection standard violations more frequently than any other standard.

These types of hazards are serious issues for workers and employers, but their risk can be minimized with 10 simple ways to prevent slips, trips, and falls. With the risk of injury ranging from a simple sprained ankle to serious injury or death, fall protection and prevention should be everyone’s top priority.

These 10 ways to prevent injury should be considered best practices in every industry.

Like any other safety hazard, slips, trips, and falls can be highlighted during safety training. Make sure that everyone can recognize and avoid slip, trip, and fall hazards and that they use PPE correctly when necessary.

With these types of hazards being common to every type of work environment, it is important to notify supervisors or maintenance crews of slip, trip, and fall hazards when they are present. With so many ways to avoid or lessen the severity of slip, trip, and fall hazards, hopefully businesses will take steps to abate this hazards and less time will be lost by workers.

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Slips, Trips, And Falls Hazards | How To Prevent Them

Every year, countless individuals experience the unexpected mishap of a slip, trip, or fall. These incidents occur across all age groups and settings, from homes and public spaces to workplaces. While often brushed off as minor inconveniences or embarrassments, slips, trips, and falls can lead to serious injuries and significant financial and emotional costs.

The key to tackling this pervasive issue lies in understanding the factors contributing to these accidents and implementing effective prevention measures. In this blog, we delve into the causes of slips, trips, and falls, their impact, and, most importantly, how we can prevent them.

By understanding these risks, we empower ourselves to create safer environments, whether looking at the comfort of our homes, the safety of public spaces, or the well-being of employees in a workplace. This guide aims to heighten awareness, encourage preventive action, and highlight our shared responsibility in reducing the risks and consequences of slips, trips, and falls. Join us as we navigate through this important topic step by carefully step.

The Importance of Preventing Slips, Trips, and Falls

The impact of slips, trips, and falls can be highly significant, from bruised shins to broken bones. These incidents aren’t just about physical injury. The repercussions can ripple outwards, affecting an individual’s quality of life, workability, and mental well-being. In the workplace, such accidents can lead to significant downtime, loss of productivity, and even legal implications for businesses. It’s estimated that the annual costs associated with occupational falls run into billions of dollars globally, impacting not just individuals but entire economies. Therefore, it’s clear that these everyday accidents are anything but trivial and that preventing them should be a top priority for everyone.

Basic Understanding of Slips, Trips, and Falls

To prevent these incidents, we first need to understand them. So, what exactly are slips, trips, and falls? A slip occurs when there is too little friction or traction between your footwear and the walking surface, leading to a loss of balance. A trip happens when your foot or lower leg hits an object, and your upper body continues moving, resulting in loss of balance. A fall can result from a slip or trip but can also occur due to other factors, like poor lighting, lack of handrails, or sudden illness.

Each of these incidents can occur under various circumstances. While some common causes include wet or uneven surfaces, poor footwear, and cluttered walkways, there can also be less obvious contributors, like insufficient training or awareness. This article aims to delve deeper into the world of slips, trips, and falls, elucidating their causes, impacts, and, most importantly, the strategies for prevention. The goal is not to instill fear but to inspire a culture of safety, vigilance, and proactive measures to keep everyone safe.

Definition and Differences: Slips, Trips, and Falls

While the terms ‘slips,’ ‘trips,’ and ‘falls’ are often used interchangeably, they refer to distinct occurrences. As we’ve already discussed, a slip occurs when there is insufficient traction between your foot and the walking surface. This lack of grip may cause an imbalance, leading you to fall.

Trips, on the other hand, occur when your foot contacts an object in its path or drops unexpectedly, causing you to lose balance. A trip might occur due to clutter, an obstacle in the pathway, or an uneven walking surface.

Finally, a fall is a sudden, uncontrolled descent for various reasons, including slips, trips, loss of consciousness, or other health-related issues. Falls can occur on the same level (for example, falling on the floor) or from one level to another (like falling down the stairs or from a ladder).

Common Causes of Slips, Trips, and Falls

Understanding the common causes of these incidents is the first step toward prevention. Below are some major factors that often contribute to slips, trips, and falls.

• Wet or Oily Surfaces: One of the most common causes of slips is the presence of wet or oily surfaces. This might occur in areas prone to spills or leaks, such as kitchens, bathrooms, and certain industrial environments.
• Uneven Surfaces, Irregularities, and Obstacles: Uneven walking surfaces or irregularities such as potholes, cracks, or abrupt transitions can cause trips. Obstacles might include clutter, cords, open drawers, and other items that haven’t been stored properly.
• Poor Lighting Conditions: Inadequate lighting can make it difficult to see and avoid potential hazards like spills, obstacles, or changes in level. This can lead to both trips and falls.
• Weather Hazards: Outdoor slips and falls often increase during bad weather conditions such as rain, snow, or ice, which make surfaces slippery and vision less clear.
• Human Factors: Rushing, distraction, fatigue, or lack of proper training can also contribute to slips, trips, and falls. These can often be mitigated through awareness and training.
• Improper Footwear: Footwear unsuitable for the work environment or the current weather conditions can increase the risk of slips, trips, and falls. For example, smooth-soled shoes might not provide enough traction on a wet or oily surface, leading to slips.
• Loose or Unsecured Mats or Rugs: Unsecured mats, rugs, or carpets can shift underfoot or present tripping hazards with their edges.
• Improper Use of Equipment: This might involve using chairs instead of ladders, climbing on shelves, or not using safety equipment correctly, all of which can lead to falls.
• Poor Housekeeping: If work and walkway areas are not kept clean and orderly, they can contribute significantly to slips, trips, and falls. Examples include cluttered workspaces, cables across walkways, or spills not promptly cleaned up.
• Lack of Safety Training: Employees not properly trained on the correct job procedures, including safety equipment, can be at higher risk for accidents.
• Inadequate Maintenance: Neglecting maintenance can lead to hazards such as leaky pipes (leading to wet surfaces), potholes, or uneven flooring, which can cause slips, trips, and falls.
• Poorly Designed Walkways: Walkways with sudden drops, absence of handrails, sharp turns, or inadequate space can increase the risk of falls.
• Medical Conditions: Certain conditions like poor vision, balance disorders, or mobility problems can also increase the risk of slips, trips, and falls.
• Age: Both the very young and the elderly are at an increased risk for falls, partly due to factors such as lack of coordination, decreased strength, or reduced balance.

Remember, while this list of causes is extensive, it is not exhaustive. There may be other contributing factors depending on the specific circumstances or environment. That’s why it’s crucial to carry out regular risk assessments to promptly identify and address potential hazards.

Impact and Consequences Of Slips, Trips, And Falls

The impacts of slips, trips, and falls extend beyond the immediate event and can have lasting effects on the individuals involved and the organizations they belong to. These incidents can result in physical injuries, financial costs, and psychological distress.

Physical Injuries: From Minor to Severe

Physical injuries resulting from slips, trips, and falls can range from minor to severe. Minor injuries may include bruises, abrasions, or sprains. At the same time, more severe cases can lead to fractures, concussions, or even life-threatening injuries such as traumatic brain injuries or spinal cord damage.

In some cases, these incidents can lead to chronic pain or long-term disability, affecting the individual’s ability to perform daily activities or return to work. Falls, in particular, can be especially dangerous for older adults, leading to hip fractures or other serious injuries that significantly impact their independence and quality of life.

Financial Implications: Costs of Accidents

The financial implications of these incidents are also considerable. For individuals, this can include medical expenses, rehabilitation costs, and lost wages during recovery. Additionally, they might face expenses related to modifying their home for accessibility if the fall leads to a long-term disability.

For businesses, the financial costs can be substantial. There are indirect costs besides direct costs like medical expenses and workers’ compensation claims. These can include lost productivity due to employee absence, costs related to training replacement employees, and potential increases in insurance premiums. In severe cases, businesses may also face legal fees if they are negligent in providing a safe environment.

Psychological Implications: Fear and Anxiety After a Fall

The psychological impacts of slips, trips, and falls should not be underestimated. People who have experienced such an incident may develop a fear of falling again. This fear can limit their activities, reduce their independence, and decrease their quality of life.

Anxiety, depression, and social isolation can also result from the fear of falling or the consequences of an injury, such as disability. Employees may experience stress or anxiety about returning to work, especially if they feel the environment is unsafe.

Understanding these impacts highlights the importance of preventive measures to ensure safe environments, reducing the risk of slips, trips, and falls. The following sections will explore strategies to identify potential hazards and implement effective control measures.

Slips, Trips, And Falls Hazards Risk Assessment

Risk assessment is critical in preventing slips, trips, and falls. It involves identifying potential hazards, evaluating their risks, and determining appropriate control measures. A thorough risk assessment should consider all areas and activities in a given environment, from the home to the workplace.

Identifying High-Risk Areas in the Home or Workplace

High-risk areas vary depending on the setting. These might include staircases, bathrooms, and kitchens in the home, where wet surfaces are common. Outdoor areas like driveways or walkways can also present risks, especially in adverse weather conditions. Any area without sufficient support structures could be risky for older adults or those with mobility issues.

In the workplace, high-risk areas could be those with heavy foot traffic, wet or uneven surfaces, or places with lots of equipment and machinery. Industrial kitchens, construction sites , warehouses, and healthcare facilities are examples of workplace environments that often have high-risk areas.

Key Considerations for Risk Assessment

A comprehensive risk assessment should consider various factors. These include:

• The Environment: Assess the condition of the floors, lighting, staircases, and walkways. Look for hazards like wet surfaces, uneven floors, poor lighting, or lack of handrails.
• Human Factors: Consider the behavior and health of individuals in the environment. Are they rushing? Are they carrying heavy items that may obstruct their view? Do they have any health conditions that increase their risk?
• Tasks: Evaluate the tasks being performed. Does the job involve working at height, handling hazardous substances, or heavy physical labor? Are workers exposed to distractions or time pressure?
• Footwear and Clothing: Assess whether appropriate footwear and clothing are worn for specific environments and tasks.
• Previous Incidents: Look at the history of slips, trips, and falls in the environment. A pattern might indicate a persistent problem that needs addressing.

Importance of Regular Safety Audits

Regular safety audits are essential to maintain a safe environment. These audits involve routinely inspecting the environment and practices to ensure that safety measures are up-to-date and effectively implemented. They help identify new or overlooked hazards and assess the effectiveness of current control measures.

Regular audits also demonstrate a commitment to safety, which can encourage individuals to take responsibility for their safety and that of others. This fosters a proactive safety culture where hazards are promptly reported and addressed, further reducing the risk of slips, trips, and falls.

Prevention and Control Measures For Slips, Trips, And Falls

Once potential hazards have been identified through risk assessment, it’s crucial to implement prevention and control measures to mitigate these risks. This involves a range of strategies, from good housekeeping practices to installing safety features.

Housekeeping Best Practices

Proper housekeeping is one of the most effective ways to prevent slips, trips, and falls. Here are some best practices:

• Regular Cleaning: Clean floors regularly and immediately clean up any spills. Ensure to put up “wet floor” signs until the area is dry.
• Declutter: Keep walkways and work areas clear of clutter and obstacles.
• Proper Storage: Store materials and equipment properly when not in use.
• Maintenance: Promptly repair any damages to walkways and work areas, like cracks or uneven surfaces.

Installing Safety Features (Handrails, Non-Slip Mats, etc.)

Installing safety features can greatly reduce the risk of accidents. Here are a few examples:

• Handrails: Install sturdy handrails on all staircases and other areas where individuals may need extra support.
• Non-slip Mats: Use non-slip mats in areas prone to wet or slippery conditions.
• Guard Rails: Install guardrails around elevated platforms, mezzanines, and other fall hazards.
• Visible Markings: Use reflective tape or other visible markings to highlight changes in floor level or other hazards.

Appropriate Footwear for Different Surfaces

Wearing the right footwear can significantly reduce the risk of slips, trips, and falls. Choose shoes with good traction, especially for wet or slippery surfaces. Protective footwear should be worn in workplaces where specific hazards are present, such as construction sites.

Prompt Removal or Correction of Identified Hazards

Address identified hazards as quickly as possible to prevent accidents. If a hazard cannot be immediately removed or corrected, ensure it is clearly marked, and individuals are informed about it until it can be addressed.

Adequate Lighting

Ensure all areas have sufficient lighting to allow individuals to see and avoid potential hazards. This is particularly important for stairways, hallways, and outdoor paths. Replace burnt-out bulbs promptly and consider installing automatic lights in often-used areas.

By implementing these prevention and control measures, you can greatly reduce the risk of slips, trips, and falls, promoting a safer environment for everyone. In the next section, we’ll explore additional strategies and considerations specific to the workplace.

Workplace-Specific Considerations

While many of the principles of slips, trips, and falls prevention apply universally, certain considerations are particularly relevant to workplaces. These involve safety training, employer responsibilities, and industry-specific hazards.

Importance of Safety Training and Awareness Programs

Safety training is vital to workplace safety . Regular training sessions can ensure that employees are aware of potential hazards and the best practices for avoiding them. Training should cover topics such as proper use of equipment, safe handling of materials, and emergency procedures.

Awareness programs, too, can play a crucial role in maintaining a safe work environment. These programs could include regular safety reminders via bulletins, emails, or meetings, encouraging employees to be vigilant and proactive about safety.

Employer Responsibilities and Employee Rights

Employers have a responsibility to provide a safe work environment. This involves conducting regular risk assessments, addressing identified hazards promptly, and providing necessary safety training and equipment. They should also have procedures in place for reporting accidents or hazards and ensure that employees feel comfortable using these procedures without fear of retaliation.

Employees, on the other hand, have the right to a safe workplace and the right to speak up about safety concerns. They also have a role in maintaining safety by following established procedures, using provided safety equipment, and promptly reporting any hazards or incidents.

Industry-Specific Hazards and Control Measures

Every industry has its unique set of hazards, so it’s important to consider these when planning prevention and control measures. For example, spills and hot surfaces might be major hazards in a restaurant kitchen. Measures could include non-slip mats, appropriate footwear, and caution signs. In a construction site, falls from a height might be the primary concern, necessitating guardrails, safety harnesses, and fall arrest systems.

In conclusion, slips, trips, and falls are common but preventable incidents. By understanding their causes and impacts, conducting regular risk assessments, and implementing effective prevention and control measures, we can significantly reduce these accidents, fostering safer homes, workplaces, and communities.

The Role of Training in Preventing Slips, Trips , and Falls

Proper training programs are essential to educate employees on recognising hazards and taking preventive measures. Key training includes:

• Slips, Trips , and Falls Training:  This program focuses on identifying potential slip, trip, and fall hazards, understanding the causes and learning preventive measures. Through  online slips, trips, and falls training , employees can learn how to recognize and mitigate these risks effectively and promptly report such incidents.
• Hazard Awareness Training:  General hazard awareness training helps employees recognize various workplace hazards, including those that could lead to slips, trips and falls. It promotes a culture of safety and vigilance.
• Housekeeping and Workplace Organi z ation:  Training on maintaining a clean and organized workplace can prevent many trip hazards. This includes proper material storage, cable management and clear walkways.
• Emergency Response Training:  Knowing how to respond in the event of a slip, trip or fall is crucial. This training covers first aid, emergency procedures and reporting protocols to ensure quick and effective response to incidents.
• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Training:  Employees must know how to select, use and maintain their PPE. PPE training includes instructions on wearing non-slip footwear, gloves and other protective gear to minimize the risk of slips, trips and falls.
• Work at Height Training:  Work at height course  educates employees on the risks of working at heights and teaches safe practices for performing such tasks. This specialized training helps prevent severe injuries resulting from fall incidents.

Preventing slips, trips, and falls is no small task, but it is a crucial one. As we’ve explored in this guide, these incidents are far from trivial, carrying the potential for serious physical injuries, significant financial costs, and profound psychological impacts. Yet, armed with the knowledge of what causes these incidents and understanding their impacts, we’re already halfway towards prevention.

The steps to creating safer environments—at home, in public spaces, or at workplaces—aren’t overly complex. They begin with recognizing the potential hazards and involve a thoughtful blend of risk assessment, implementing practical measures, and fostering a culture of safety awareness. From basic housekeeping to installing safety features, each action reduces the risk.

It’s important to remember that the responsibility of preventing slips, trips, and falls doesn’t rest on a single individual or group—it’s a collective effort. Employers, employees, homeowners, and public facility managers all have roles to play. And in our various roles, we all contribute to a larger, shared goal: creating safer environments for everyone.

Preparing for and preventing these incidents can seem daunting in a world where the unexpected is expected. But, as we’ve seen, it’s not only possible; it’s a critical part of our commitment to safety for ourselves and others. Let this guide serve as a reminder and resource for that commitment, helping us make each step we take a safer one. Thank you for joining us on this journey towards safer environments and greater awareness. Let’s continue to take steps, big and small, toward a safer tomorrow.

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The 10 most common injuries caused by slips, trips, and falls in the workplace

• October 8, 2020

We’ve all become a bit more aware recently of the potential dangers lurking in the workplace. Things we never thought of as hazardous before like making a cup of tea, sharing an elevator, or even sharing a desk, now give us cause for concern.

However, you may not know that in recent years, the most common cause of non-fatal workplace injuries, accounting for nearly a third, are slips, trips, and falls. When you include falls from height, the percentage increases even further. Whilst you might imagine these to be dramatic incidents involving scaffolding, ladders, or trees, falls from the same level accounted for over 20,000 injuries at work in 2018/19. This could be tripping over a box left where it shouldn’t be, or slipping on a wet floor.

Injuries caused by slips, trips and falls

The most common injuries from these types of accidents, unsurprisingly, are fractures and dislocated joints. These are most commonly to the ankle or wrist, but fractures to fingers are also common. Shoulder dislocation and knee injury can also commonly occur. After fractures are sprains and superficial cuts and bruises. Next are lacerations and open wounds, followed by burns and scalds. While it’s reassuring to note that most falls at work don’t lead to serious injuries, 2% of fatal injuries in the workplace are in fact caused by falls from the same height, and a much higher 25% by falls from height. Falls and slips can in rare cases also lead to traumatic brain injuries or spinal cord damage .

Health and Safety legislation

So, what is there to protect workers from this type of incident befalling us? Well, employers are under a statutory duty to protect their employees against injury. The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 states that employers must do all that is ‘reasonably practicable’ to ensure the safety of their employees. This includes putting in provisions to avoid slips and trips.

All employers must carry out a risk assessment of the workplace and identify any hazards. If hazards are identified they must assess how high the risk is that injury may be caused and take action to address the risk where possible. There are also regulations dealing specifically with the risk of falls and trips for example, one regulation states that floors must be kept in good condition and free of obstructions.

Some risks are straightforward and easy to spot, such as the risk of spillages in a kitchen. A measure to reduce the risk of falls could be ensuring that all spillages are cleaned up as soon as they occur. While an employer may not be able to prevent spillages entirely, there is no excuse for them not to put in place measures to reduce the risk of injury. Risk assessments also need to be kept up to date, particularly if there have been any near misses or accidents, or if the workplace has made any changes.

Health and Safety Executive

  Some accidents at work must be reported to the Heath & Safety Executive. All fatalities must be reported as well as certain types of injury; generally, the more serious the injury the higher the likelihood that it should be reported. The HSE can prosecute an employer if it considers they have breached their health and safety requirements. However, even where the HSE doesn’t take any further action, an injured employee may be able to bring a civil claim against their employer for compensation.

Claiming Compensation

  It is important to remember, however, that compensation isn’t automatic and not all workplace injuries are the fault of the employer. It depends on whether the employer did everything they could to reduce the risk of injury, and whether they complied with the regulations. Just producing a risk assessment isn’t proof that they fulfilled their obligations though. They may have produced the paperwork, but did they put in place the measures identified to reduce the risk of injury?

In a workplace injury claim, this is where evidence of day to day working practices is very important. Useful evidence can be witness statements from employees or former employees, photographs of the workplace, memos from the employer or emails sent to staff. For example, an employer might have identified a risk of injury from wet floors and have a risk assessment saying that the floor must be kept dry. However, the day to day reality may have been very different.

Also important is whether the employee received the correct training for the task they were doing when the accident occurred. Even if it seems like the employee ’caused’ the accident, perhaps by not positioning a ladder correctly before climbing it, or by failing to wear a hard hat, if the employer didn’t give them sufficient training to do the task safety or provide them with the correct PPE to keep them safe, the employer could be the one at fault, not the employee who may have been trying their best in difficult circumstances.

Employers are also usually vicariously liable for the negligent actions of their employees so if an employee injures a colleague, the employer is likely to be liable (although as always there are exceptions particularly when the individual acts outside the scope of their role). This usually makes it easier for an injured party to obtain compensation as the employer will be insured, unlike the majority of individuals.

It is important if you are injured whilst at work to seek expert advice. It can be particularly tricky if you want to continue to work for the company but at the same time are struggling with an injury, and it can be difficult to know whether your employer can be held responsible or whether it was an unavoidable accident.

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Slips, Trips, and Falls: A Comprehensive Guide For The Proactive Manager (Part One – Regulatory Requirements)

Posted 11.05.23 by: Jeremy Shantz

Slips, trips, and falls in the workplace are common and the number one cause of workplace injuries. We’re not just talking about minor injuries, either. Believe it or not, something as simple as a carpet in your entranceway can cause severe trauma and, in rare cases, death.

Table of Contents

Understanding Impact

Slips, trips, and falls happen often. In fact, 27.4% of nonfatal workplace injuries in private industry were caused by slips, trips, and falls. If we look at the big data, in 2019 in the United States, there were 888,220 workplace injuries (reported), and 244,000 were slips, trips, and falls caused. ( source )

Statistically, these numbers are quite revealing. The median number of injuries one can expect is 2.8%. So, three of every 100 workers will have an injury at work this year, according to the injury statistics.

This guide will review all the ins and outs of slips, trips, and fall incident management. I’ll provide a roadmap for making management and prevention much easier for you. Stick with me to the end, and I’ll give you my favorite not-so-secret incident management tool advice so you can make your job easier too. Let’s get started.

Understanding Slips, Trips, And Falls

To create a safe and manageable work environment, we must understand exactly what slips, trips, and falls are. You know the common definition, but let’s examine how the authorities view such terms.

Definitions

Most countries in the G20 or UN follow a basic understanding of the incident definition. However, for the purpose of clarity, we’ll use OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration in the United States) for our definitions.

According to OSHA, a slip is when a person loses balance due to a lack of friction between the floor and their footwear. Examples might include wet smooth tile or marble flooring, or if you live in the north, a typical slip scenario is ice on the ground.

Common Causes

• Oil or similar lubricating chemicals
• Wet surfaces

A trip is a scenario where a person loses balance due to a collision between a foot and an object. Practical scenarios might include a fold in a moveable floor rug, uneven flooring or steps, or even objects left on the floor. Trips are potentially dangerous not just due to the collision between foot and object but because they have a tendency to throw a person to the ground. Well, I don’t need to tell you how dangerous that can be when:

• Working at heights
• Working around sharp objects
• Working around moving equipment or vehicles

For obvious reasons, a trip can quickly escalate into a life-or-death severe scenario.

• Uneven flooring
• Objects in walkways

OSHA views a fall as the movement towards a lower level, typically at rapid speed or acceleration (gravity). You might go so far as to assume that the fall is the tail-end of the trip, and in many cases, you would be correct in making that assumption. However, the wording that OSHA uses to define a fall makes the assumption more evident that it intends to regard falling from a higher level to a lower level as the pre-emptive definition of a fall.

Examples of falls include falling off a loading dock edge, falling down some stairs, or falling off your chair (it happens more than you know).

• Unguarded work platforms
• Lack of fall prevention equipment
• Trips and slip events

I’ve provided a few causes of slips, trips, and falls in the workplace, but let’s define the more broad reasons to get the proper perspective.

Environmental Factors

As mentioned earlier, if you’re in North America, Europe, or another place that sees ice and snow in winter, you know that environmental factors can easily cause slips, trips, and falls. Ice, snow, and hail can easily make a person slip and fall.

Rain is also a factor in slipping on smooth surfaces. Naturally, we don’t have many smooth outdoor places where people might slip, but even a wood walkway outside can turn into a slippery surface in the right wet conditions.

Human Factors

Humans are notorious for making problems for each other, and often, it isn’t even intentional. Take a worker who is carrying some boxes and set them down for a moment to answer the phone. Maybe they get distracted and merely forget the box was placed in an aisle. Sure enough, if Murphy is afoot, then someone is going to trip over the box.

Human factors may not be limited to the common practice of leaving a parcel in a walkway. Some jobs require workers to instigate slippery conditions; just think of anyone who has to wash down a truck with soapy water, work with oily equipment, or any number of other common work scenarios that involve processes that could cause slippery conditions. A janitor mopping up a spill is the simplest human factor that comes to mind, especially if there are no slippery when wet floor signs are posted.

Equipment Factors

Although equipment can play a significant role in workplace slips, trips, and falls (in several ways), truth be told, each of the ways that equipment factors into slip, trip, and fall events all go back to a person in some way or another. Here are some of the ways people let 

equipment causes dangerous situations that can cause slips, trips, falls, and injury to people.

• Poor Maintenance: Equipment that people improperly maintain can create hazards. For instance, a machine can leak oil or other fluids, creating a slippery surface. Machines or other equipment might also have loose parts that could cause someone to trip.
• Improper Use: Misusing equipment can lead to accidents. For instance, if you use a ladder that’s too short, you might overreach and fall. Don’t stand on chairs or tables in the office instead of using a step stool or ladder. I have found in every job that one person thinks they can stand on a wheeled desk chair to reach something, but I warn you: Don’t do it. You aren’t Spiderman.
• Equipment Placement: The location of equipment can also cause accidents. Electrical cords and cabling are notoriously making people faceplant. If you have ever worked in maintenance (or entertainment), then you’ll know what I’m talking about. 
• Inadequate Safety Features: Some equipment may lack necessary safety features that could prevent slips, trips, and falls. For example, a ladder without non-slip feet can easily slide on a smooth surface, leading to a fall. 

Similarly, machinery without proper guardrails or other safety devices could put workers at risk of falling. Check your equipment for necessary safety features. Machinery should have proper guardrails or other safety devices to prevent falls. Furthermore, it would be best to insist on daily walk-around safety inspections for all your vehicles or equipment . Enacting smart safety protocols reduces the risk.

• Inappropriate Equipment: Sometimes, the equipment itself is not suited for the job or the environment, increasing the risk of slips, trips, and falls. For instance, forklifts used in an area with a slippery floor can lead to accidents.
• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): The absence or misuse of PPE can also contribute to slips, trips, and falls. For instance, workers not wearing appropriate footwear for their environment (like non-slip shoes in a wet or oily environment) can easily slip and fall. Similarly, workers who don’t use precautions like a fall protection safety harness are asking for accidents to happen.

To mitigate these risks, ensure that regular maintenance and safety checks of all equipment are standard practice at your workplace. Workers should also have training in correctly using and placing all equipment, and appropriate PPE should be provided and used consistently.

Common injuries

Knowing something and doing nothing about it is pointless. If we look at the data, then we know that each year it is expected that 2.8% of workers will have an at-work accident. That’s 1.4 workers out of 50 (0.7 out of 25). With these numbers, a team of 12 can expect one worker every two years to have an at-work injury. Let’s see what injuries are most common.

Sprains And Strains

Workplace sprain and strain injuries happen most to the torso. In many cases, this means someone’s back. Nearly 40% of injuries in 2021 (In the US) involved the torso.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but the US Bureau of Labor Statistics said back in 2005 that sprains and strains accounted for 43%, and mostly back injuries, of private industry, lost time accidents. That is, 43% of the 1.3 million injuries and illnesses reported in 2003. Twenty years ago, and things haven’t changed much. 

According to the injury attorney Adam Skutner (no affiliation), you have a five percent chance of breaking a bone when you slip and fall. I’ve known three people who slipped, fell, and tried to put their hands out to stop the fall. Two of them broke their wrist; the third person sprained it. And that’s just off the top of my memory. So when I hear that five percent break bones, I’m not surprised it’s five percent; I’m surprised it isn’t more.

Dislocations

If you’ve ever dislocated something, then you know it’s as painful as a break. I think of the classic Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon. He was known for dislocating his shoulder and painfully re-locating it with violent force against a wall or similar structure. However, nothing is entertaining about real-life dislocations, so it’s best to avoid them for obvious reasons.

Contusions And Abrasions

Contusions and abrasions are quite common in workplaces. Even office staff get paper cuts – no one is safe! However, in your business, it’s no laughing matter. A simple paper cut can lead to an infection that can lead to any number of complications. That’s why it’s critical to document everything, even a cut. 

At a former job I managed, we had a simple first-aid use form to complete any time a first-aid kit was opened. It was a simple way to document simple injuries like cuts and scrapes that did not require medical attention beyond the first aid kit.

Concussions And Head Injuries

Concussions and head injuries are the most serious concern for anyone in a slip-and-fall event. The healthiest of people can fall the wrong way, hit their head, and end their day (or life). 

According to the Washington Post , a study showed that the human skull can withstand 6.5 GPa of pressure. That’s compared to oak (wood) at 11, concrete at 30, aluminum at 69, and steel at 200. Therefore, I wouldn’t put my head in a fight against anything harder than my pillow.

Regulatory Requirements

It’s time to get into regulations. You are responsible for those under your charge as a manager or employer. Let’s see what OSHA has to say about the matter.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards

Navigating the landscape of safety protocols and OSHA standards can be overwhelming, but we’re here to break it down for you. The core standards you need to be aware of when it comes to preventing slips, trips, and falls in the workplace are these:

General Requirements (29 CFR 1910 Subpart D): It’s all about ensuring safe walking-working surfaces for your team. Make it a priority to keep these surfaces free from hazards like sharp objects, loose boards, leaks, or spills. Let’s not forget about seasonal hazards like snow and ice too!

Stairways and Ladders (29 CFR 1926.1052 and 1926.1053): These rules are a must-know if you’re in the construction industry. The focus here is on providing safe stairways and ladders to help prevent falls.

Fall Protection (29 CFR 1926.501): Another one for the construction folks out there. This standard mandates that employers provide fall protection systems when workers operate at heights of 6 feet or above a lower level.

Walking-Working Surfaces (29 CFR 1910.22): This one circles back to the general requirements but emphasizes cleanliness and orderliness. You must ensure that all walking and working surfaces are sanitary and well-maintained.

Personal Protective Equipment (29 CFR 1910 Subpart I): Here’s where the right gear comes in. OSHA requires employers to provide employees with appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) and ensure its proper use. This could include non-slip footwear to help prevent slips and falls.

Remember, it’s not just about ticking boxes and meeting legal requirements. It’s about creating a safe working environment where your team members can perform their duties without fear of slips, trips, and falls. 

International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Guidelines

ISO has a specific standard that addresses occupational health and safety: ISO 45001. These standard guides organizations in creating robust health and safety management systems, which inherently involve the prevention of slips, trips, and falls. However, the standard doesn’t go into specific details about these incidents. Instead, it focuses on risk management and hazard identification that would help anticipate and prevent such accidents.

Industry-Specific Regulations

All industries must follow a basic duty standard to provide safe working conditions. However, some industries have specific regulations, which I will review a sample cross-section of below.

Construction Industry

OSHA’s construction safety standards (29 CFR 1926) include detailed requirements for fall protection (29 CFR 1926.501), stairways and ladders (29 CFR 1926.1052 and 1926.1053), and scaffolding (29 CFR 1926.451). These standards mandate using guardrails, safety nets, or personal fall arrest systems when workers are working at heights of 6 feet or above a lower level.

General Industry

OSHA’s walking-working surfaces standards (29 CFR 1910 Subpart D) apply to all general industry workplaces. They require employers to provide safe walking-working surfaces and keep them free from hazards such as sharp or protruding objects, loose boards, corrosion, leaks, spills, snow, and ice.

Healthcare Industry

While there’s no specific OSHA standard for slip, trip, and fall hazards in the healthcare industry, these workplaces must comply with the general industry standards, including the walking-working surfaces standards. OSHA’s guidelines for nursing homes recommend implementing a comprehensive safety and health program that includes an analysis of fall hazards and a plan to control these hazards.

Maritime Industry

For shipyards (29 CFR Part 1915), long shoring (29 CFR Part 1918), and marine terminals (29 CFR Part 1917), OSHA has specific regulations that include requirements for working surfaces, guarding floor and wall openings, and maintaining ladders, stairways, and scaffolds.

Company Policies And Procedures

We have covered what the regulations say, and now it’s time to put that information into action. Creating a health and safety manual is a requirement for most businesses. Although the regulations may vary from state to state or province to province, the concept remains the same: If you operate a business with employees, you should have a health and safety manual.

Along with your health and safety manual, it’s advisable to have job hazard analysis a part of every role within your company or organization. Furthermore, it’s easy to include standards to maintain by providing your team with instructions and procedures to follow within each role. For example, you could include in your housekeeping role manual to utilize wet floor signs and keep pace with any spills to ensure fast clean-up and reduced chances of incidents.

That’s it for part one of our Slips, Trips, and Falls guide for the proactive manager. Check out Part Two for even more about the processes you can implement to take control of slips, trips, and fall incidents at your place of business.

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Blog / May 16, 2016

3 Big Causes of Slips, Trips and Falls

This is an excerpt from our free guide on preventing slips, trips and falls .

A 2014 survey of 1,294 safety professionals revealed the most frequent factors in slip, trip and fall incidents at their workplaces—and a whopping 95% of respondents cited one of three causes.

The main characteristic the three biggest causes have in common is they’re the result of the errors or errors in judgement that people make every day, like how tidy to keep their work area, whether to report a wet surface or debris that could be a trip hazard, how fast to walk, and whether to move blindly around corners. People tend to perceive these hazards (and especially hu­man factors) as being a lot less risky than they actually are, which makes it challenging to find effective and permanent solutions.

Because these factors require constant attention, they can be avoided entirely (or made worse) by employees’ mental states throughout the day.

One step at a time

Most safety programs focus on the physical hazards of slips, trips and falls, like the conditions of commonly used areas such as a well-traveled walking surface, stairway or ladder. Fall hazards should always be your first priority, but you can’t eliminate injuries caused by slips, trips and falls by only dealing with physical factors.

The truth is that many slips, trips and falls are caused  or made worse by a person’s state of mind. When we’re rushing, frustrated, tired or complacent we tend to make errors and decisions that increase the chance of injury.

Nobody chooses to slip and fall. But no matter how effective the rest of your safety program is, your employees have a higher risk of injury due to a slip, trip or fall when they’re in one of these four states.

If you’ve done everything you can to minimize physicals hazards, your next step in preventing slips, trips and falls is clear: you need to address human factors.

Discover how to address human factors in your slips, trips and falls prevention efforts by downloading Solving Slips, Trips and Falls Once and For All: A guide to addressing the physical and human factors in slips, trips and falls  for free.

On-demand webinar

Slips, Trips and Falls: Balancing Human and Physical Causes

Are you overlooking hidden risk factors of slips, trips and falls? Do you know how to reduce inattention blindness? This presentation covers most common elements missing from the majority of slip, trip and fall prevention efforts—and lets you know what you can do to keep workers on their feet.

Tagged Slips Trips and Falls

Safety is key: how to prevent slips, trips, and falls

Slips, trips, and falls are some of the most common accidents people experience. Whether you encounter a slippery surface or lose your balance for a moment, accidents can happen to anyone at any time.

At CityMD Urgent Care, we know that even a seemingly minor fall can result in serious injuries , like sprains, fractures, or even head trauma.

It is important to be aware of the risks of slips, trips, and falls and take steps to prevent accidents before they happen. Here we discuss some of the common causes of slips, trips, and falls and offer tips on how to stay safe and avoid injury.

Injuries from slips, trips, and falls

Slips, trips, and falls are some of the most common types of accidents. But did you know these types of accidents can result in serious injuries?

From minor cuts and bruises to fractures and head trauma, slips, trips, and falls can cause harm to different parts of the body. Sprains, strains, and dislocations are common injuries from slips and trips, while falls can result in broken bones, concussions, or spinal cord injuries.

And it's not just physical injuries — these accidents can also have emotional and financial consequences, like missed work or medical bills.

Workplace injuries

Did you know that slips, trips, and falls are some of the most common workplace injuries ? Here are some examples of the most common types of workplace injuries:

• Sprains and strains . These injuries often occur when someone twists or stretches a muscle beyond its normal range of motion. They can cause pain, swelling, and limited mobility.
• Fractures . A fall from even a short distance can cause a broken bone, which can be painful and require medical attention.
• Head injuries . Falls can also result in head injuries, ranging from minor bumps to more serious traumatic brain injuries (TBI).
• Cuts and bruises . Trips and falls can cause cuts, scrapes, and bruises, which may not require medical attention but can still be painful and affect your ability to work.

If you experience an injury, seek medical attention promptly to prevent further complications.

Workplace injuries can have serious consequences, not just for your health but also for your finances and job security. So, take the necessary precautions to stay safe on the job and speak up if you notice any hazards or unsafe practices in your workplace.

Your employer is also responsible for providing a safe working environment, which may include non-slip mats, warning signs, and regular maintenance checks.

Let's explore some tips on how to stay safe and avoid injury from slips, trips, and falls.

Safety tips to prevent injuries

Slips, trips, and falls can be dangerous, but you can take some simple steps to reduce your risk of injury. Here are some safety tips to keep in mind.

• Wear appropriate footwear. Ensure your shoes have good traction and support to help you maintain your balance.
• Keep walkways clear. Remove any clutter or obstacles from walkways to prevent tripping hazards.
• Use warning signs. Use a warning sign or non-slip mat to alert others if there's a spill or other hazard.
• Use handrails. When using stairs, hold onto the railing for added support and stability.
• Proper lighting. Ensure your workspace and walkways are well-lit to help you see potential hazards.
• Take your time. Slow down and take your time when walking on slippery surfaces or uneven ground.
• Stay alert. Be aware of your surroundings and potential hazards, such as wet floors or uneven pavement.

Remember, extra precautions can go a long way in preventing injuries from slips, trips, and falls.

Injury treatment at CityMD

for slips, trips, and falls Even the best-laid plans can go awry. While these tips can help, the risk of falling is always there. If you experience an injury from a slip, trip, or fall, your local CityMD can help. Our urgent care centers are equipped to treat injuries, from minor cuts and bruises to more serious issues like broken bones or head injuries.

When you come in for treatment, our medical professionals will assess your injury and develop a treatment plan tailored to your specific needs. We aim to get you back on your feet and feeling better as soon as possible.

The staff at any of our 160+ locations will support you every step of the way from diagnosis to treatment and aftercare .

So, if you get injured, don't hesitate to visit your local CityMD urgent care for prompt and professional medical attention. Simply walk in. We've got you covered.

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Slip, Trip, and Fall Prevention for Healthcare Workers

December 2010, dhhs (niosh) publication number 2011-123.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics [2009], the incidence rate of lost-workday injuries from slips, trips, and falls (STFs) on the same level in hospitals was 38.2 per 10,000 employees, which was 90% greater than the average rate for all other private industries combined (20.1 per 10,000 employees). STFs as a whole are the second most common cause of lost-workday injuries in hospitals.

Slip, Trip, and Fall Prevention for Healthcare Workers [PDF 979.73KB]

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Common Triggers of Slips, Trips, and Falls – And How To Avoid Them

Slips, trips, and falls are some of the most common causes of workplace injuries in the US, accounting for over 8 million emergency room treatments every year. While not all these incidents are severe, some will have serious consequences, such as bruises, strains, sprains, fractures, and head injuries.

In many cases, a slip or fall can make it difficult for you to move around, do everyday activities, or live as independently as you used to. It could even force you to take a few days or weeks off work, which will affect your income and productivity. 

“Slips, trips, and falls can be frustrating, embarrassing, painful, and costly to you and your family. These accidents often leave victims hospitalized for days or weeks while the utility bills, medical bills, and other expenses collect at your doorstep,” says Alex Bouganim and Joseph Capetola, slip and fall lawyers in NYC . 

What To Do If You Slip, Trip, Or Fall

Sometimes, no matter how careful you are, accidents can still happen, and it is crucial that you know what to do in this kind of situation so you can manage it in the best way possible. One of the first steps is to immediately seek medical attention, especially if the fall was quite hard and you are feeling pain anywhere in your body. 

Injuries may not always be apparent, and a doctor can help determine specific problems and recommend the proper treatment. Aside from this, a trip to the doctor can help establish credibility if you decide to file a personal injury case or claim compensation against whoever was liable for the accident.

However, if you experience difficulty moving around, do not force yourself to get up right away and look for someone to help you instead. For severe trauma or injury, it is best to call an ambulance and stay in place until they arrive since any sudden movement could aggravate the damage to your body. 

Finally, remember to report the incident to the property owner or manager or get someone to do it for you if you cannot move around freely, and make sure that there is proper documentation to help you establish evidence when you claim compensation. It is also a good idea to consult with a legal expert for specific guidance on what to do after a slip and fall accident since the actual steps to do may vary depending on the location and circumstances of the accident. 

Common Causes And How To Avoid Them

Awareness is vital in preventing you from becoming a victim of these accidents. When you know the causes of slips, trips, and falls, it becomes easier to avoid them and you can even prevent them from happening to others. Take a look at these common triggers of slips, trips, and falls and what you can do about them:

1. Poor Lighting

Poor lighting can make it difficult to see hazards and other dangers, such as stairs, curbs, or wet and slippery surfaces, increasing your risk of slipping or falling. If you have poor vision, this is even more of a problem because the dim and dark surroundings can hide any obstructions in your path and prevent you from taking evasive action to avoid getting tripped.

To prevent slip and fall accidents due to poor lighting, ensure that all walkways are well-lit, especially in areas with high foot traffic or potential hazards. Install adequate lighting sources, such as overhead lighting or task lighting in darker areas, and immediately replace light bulbs when they burn out. 

2. Slippery Or Uneven Surfaces

One of the most common triggers of slips, trips, and falls are slippery or uneven surfaces because they can cause you to lose your footing easily. These are often caused by ice, snow, water, oil or grease, sand, mud or dirt, loose gravels or stones, and man-made causes like waxed floors, which could become slippery due to spills or leaks. 

Fortunately, there are many ways you can avoid falling victim to these triggers, and wearing proper footwear is at the top of the list. Shoes with good traction and non-slip soles can help prevent slips and falls, while smooth or worn-out soles can increase your risk. Take extra precautions by immediately cleaning up any spills or wet areas, using non-slip mats in areas prone to getting wet, such as bathrooms or kitchens, and being careful when walking on freshly cleaned or waxed floors. 

3. Mats And Rugs

When not correctly displayed or maintained, mats and rugs can result in a slip or trip, especially for an unsuspecting passerby. For example, curled-up edges or lumps in the middle of a rug could entangle your feet and cause you to lose your balance. It is also highly possible for a loose and unsecured rug to slip out of place right when you step on it, leading to a nasty fall and an injury. 

To prevent rugs and mats from becoming a tripping hazard, ensure they are properly secured and maintained. Regularly inspect them for signs of wear and tear, and immediately replace any rugs that are frayed, have holes, or are lumped in certain parts. Keep them completely flat, with no bumps or curls on the edges, and use non-slip pads underneath so they stay firmly in place.

4. Excessive Clutter

Aside from being a tripping hazard, clutter can also cause fires, which is why it is essential to do regular housekeeping to prevent these incidents from occurring. Excessive clutter like books, shoes, toys, cords, loose rugs, and stacks of newspapers on the floor create environmental hazards that impede movement and result in blockages that hinder people from walking safely.

You can minimize the occurrence of these incidents by making sure that all walkways, hallways, and stairways are always clear of clutter. Keep your space organized, secure loose cords, and use storage solutions such as shelves, cabinets, or drawers to keep items off the floors and tables. 

5. Uneven Or Poorly Built Stairs

Stairs that are damaged or not built according to safety standards can lead to serious injuries, especially if you fall from a higher level. This includes stairways with no handrails covered in dirt and debris or have broken, loose, uneven, or missing steps. Aside from these, obstructions like boxes or clutter on the steps can also cause people to trip and fall.

You can reduce the risk of slipping firstly by ensuring that your stairs are built according to strict guidelines , with the stair slope maximum range being from 30 to 50 degrees. As an additional preventive measure, you can install non-slip surfaces on the stairs, such as rubber or slip-resistant paint, and ensure that stairways are well-lit and have a clear path by removing any items left on the steps like shoes or work equipment that can create potential hazards. Carpeted stairs should also be in good condition with no noticeable deterioration, excessive wear, or missing treads.

The post Common Triggers of Slips, Trips, and Falls – And How To Avoid Them appeared first on What's Trending .

Educating Injury Victims

• Slip and Falls
• Leading Causes

Top 10 Leading Causes of Slips, Trips and Falls: Who is Liable for Injuries?

Dustin Reichard, Esq.

Licensed Attorney

Dustin is an experienced attorney with 20 years of work in the legal field. He is a former JAG attorney for the US Navy and was awarded the Navy Achievement Medal.

Explore the most common causes of slip and fall accidents. Find out if someone else’s negligence means they owe you compensation.

1. weather-related falls, 2. wet floor accidents, 3. debris on the floor, 4. uneven walking surfaces, 5. tripping hazards, 6. falls down dangerous stairs, 7. animals causing fall injuries.

• 8. Inappropriate Footwear

9. Pedestrian Distractions

10. falls due to intoxication.

• Who is Liable for a Slip and Fall?

Millions of Americans visit an emergency room every year as a result of slip and fall accidents . ¹ Their injuries range from scratches and bruises to broken bones, traumatic brain injuries (TBI), and fatalities.

Most slip or trip and fall accidents are preventable. Government, commercial, and private property owners are responsible for preventing and removing hazards. If they’re aware of a potential danger or should have been aware of one but didn’t act, they’re negligent.

Negligence simply means that a person or entity didn’t act as a reasonable person would , or failed to correct a dangerous condition.

Slip and fall accidents can happen nearly anywhere – a neighbor’s home, a grocery store, a school, or on government properties . Although each slip and fall case is unique, most arise from ten common causes.

Poor weather conditions cause a significant number of slip and fall injuries. Icy or snowy outdoor walkways , parking lots, or moisture tracked into a building result in dangerous conditions.

All property owners have a legal responsibility to minimize the risk of slip and falls, no matter the weather. During wintery weather conditions, they need to take specific actions to prevent falls.

Actions aimed at preventing slips include:

• Plowing parking areas
• Shoveling sidewalks
• Salting walkways and steps
• Frequent cleaning of entryway floors
• Using absorbent rugs on entryway floors

If they haven’t taken the proper precautions and someone gets injured, they may face financial responsibility for the fall victim’s damages .

Wet floors and other slippery surfaces almost always create a risk to a person’s safety.

Wet surfaces are usually the result of:

• Spilled liquids or foods
• Melted snow, slush, or ice in entryways and exits
• Recently cleaned or waxed floors
• Water in or around bathtubs
• Leaking roofs
• Splashing from swimming pools

Property owners must keep their floors clean and dry. They should be aware of the potential for floors to get wet.

If they can’t immediately remedy a wet floor, property owners should warn others about the potential hazard by placing a wet floor sign or cordoning off the slippery surface.

Non-liquid debris can also cause someone to slip and fall. If certain substances are on the ground or floor, preventing traction between the surface and the shoe, the risk of injury increases substantially.

Debris that can cause slips and falls include:

• Kitty litter
• Dirt or sand
• Pine needles

Property owners should take every precaution to prevent and remove debris that can potentially cause slip and falls. When someone reports debris on the floor, it’s the owner’s responsibility to act within a reasonable amount of time to keep visitors safe.

Uneven or unstable floor surfaces are the basis of many fall incidents. They cause people to trip or result in the inability for a person to hold their footing. Several factors can cause level floor surfaces to become uneven and dangerous.

Injuries from falls on uneven surfaces are typically caused by:

• Broken and cracked sidewalks
• Potholes in parking lots
• Differences in flooring elevation that require even a small step up or down

Severe injury accidents often occur because of tripping hazards. Nearly any object on the floor or ground can become a hazard, including chairs and other furniture , although some obstructions are more common than others.

Property owners should be on the lookout for:

• Ripped, buckled, or loose rugs, mats, and carpets
• Rugs without non-slip backing
• Merchandise displays
• Unsecured electrical cords
• Uneven paving stones
• Elevators that open above or below other floors
• Loose or broken floorboards

Stairs are a frequent cause of falls on all property types. Stairs that are older, broken, or lack an anti-slip surface or handrails can all result in an accident. Also, stairs with clutter or poor lighting increase the risk of a fall.

Other fall risks can be present on stairs, such as ripped carpets, debris, snow, or ice.

Escalators present a similar risk for slips and falls.

Failure to clean up animal urine, vomit, or other waste can cause an unsuspecting person to slip and fall.

The behavior of animals can cause someone to trip or be pushed to the ground. For example, a loose dog could jump up on a visitor and cause them to fall. A neighbor’s cat could walk in front or rub against the leg of someone carrying a load of boxes to their vehicle, causing them to trip.

Depending on who owns or controls the animal and the property where a fall occurs, a victim who sustains an injury under these circumstances might have a valid personal injury claim.

8. Inadequate or Inappropriate Footwear

Footwear is a factor in nearly one-quarter of all slip and fall accidents. While a victim’s use of inadequate footwear doesn’t excuse a property owner’s negligence, it might decrease their claim value.

There’s a reasonable expectation that people will wear the right shoes for the expected activities or conditions.

You might have shared fault for your damages if you wore:

• High-heeled shoes while there’s ice on the ground
• Dress shoes with little to no traction to the gym
• Shoes several sizes too big for your feet to go for a walk
• Open-toed sandals that can catch on a stair

Cell phones are one of the biggest culprits when it comes to fall injuries. Nearly everyone has a cell phone, increasing the risk of distracted walking. One study revealed that distracted walking resulted in more than 10,000 serious injuries over a ten-year period.

Besides cell phones, other things such as watching or talking to other people, eating or drinking, daydreaming, or looking through a purse or wallet while walking, can also cause distractions.

If your actions might have contributed to your injuries, you should consider meeting with an attorney about your liability. You can take steps to highlight the at-fault party’s actions and minimize your own.

Slip and falls that happen at bars and nightclubs, casinos, and even restaurants often involve injury victims who had been consuming alcohol prior to the incident. The insurance company for the business will almost certainly blame the victim’s injuries on intoxication .

When alcohol is the sole cause for a person’s fall, the victim lacks the basis for a slip and fall claim. In these scenarios, the property owner did nothing to cause the person’s fall, and cannot be held liable. But for the fall victim’s intoxication, the accident would not have happened.

You can still try and hold the owner liable if a hazardous condition played a role in the fall.

For example, a person might fall because of both having too much to drink and an owner’s negligence in not treating an icy walkway. When this occurs, a victim may still be eligible for compensation, but the amount will be reduced per their state’s comparative fault rules .

Who is Liable for a Slip and Fall Accident?

Liability is a legal term meaning responsibility. If another party acted unreasonably or carelessly and caused your slip and fall, they are liable for your damages.

Typically, the property owner is liable for a slip and fall accident . But the injury victim has the burden of proving the owner’s negligence to establish liability.

Property owners are only liable if they knew or should have reasonably known about a condition that could cause a slip and fall. It’s unreasonable to expect that they have an immediate awareness of every fall hazard and the time to fix it.

A property owner is not automatically liable for every injury that happens on their property.

Case Example: Startled Pedestrian Fall Down Stairs

In 2013, Ajanaffy Njewadda fell down the stairs at the Grand Central subway station in New York, injuring her foot and ankle. She fell after seeing an oversized “scary” poster for the popular Showtime series “Dexter.”

Ms. Njewadda claimed that, after seeing the poster, she became fearful, panicked, and lost her balance, causing her to fall to the ground.

She described the poster as “disturbing, provocative, shocking and fear-inducing,” featuring the main character’s face under a plastic wrap with his eyes open.

She alleged that Showtime, CBS, and the NYCTA/MTA  intentionally and negligently created a hazardous condition by placing the poster under or on the subway stairs.

In 2015, her attorneys filed a personal injury lawsuit against Showtime, CBS, and NYCTA/MTA for the presence of the visible poster in the stairway.

In January 2019, a judge dismissed the case, saying that Showtime and CBS owed Ms. Njewadda no duty of care. Further, because there was no evidence of a physical hazard on the stairs, she had no cause of action against NYCTA/MTA.

Njewadda v. Showtime Networks, Inc., et al

If you can’t provide clear and convincing evidence of the property owner’s liability , their insurance company is unlikely to pay your claim.

Evidence that might be helpful includes:

• Video surveillance recordings, if available
• Eyewitness statements
• Incident reports filed before your slip and fall if the condition was ongoing (e.g. a leaky roof, a broken floor tile, etc.)

Any of these types of proof can potentially reveal when and if a store owner or employee became aware of the danger. If the injured party shows that the store owner or employee was aware of the spill but didn’t act within a reasonable amount of time, they deserve compensation for their injuries.

In other situations, property owners must use common sense. If it’s snowy outside, it’s reasonable to expect that they’ll need to act to keep their floors from becoming wet and hazardous. An employee doesn’t have to see the wet floors or have someone report them. It’s reasonable to expect that employees know that customers will track snow into the building.

Shared Fault for Slip and Fall Injuries

Sometimes fall victims can contribute to their own injuries, and the legal framework of comparative negligence applies. The result is that an injured victim will receive less compensation, even if an owner was liable for their injuries.

Most states have modified rules of comparative negligence . These rules apply when injured parties are partly to blame for causing their accidents and injuries. In these cases, most states say that your injury compensation is reduced by your percentage of fault in causing the accident.

Insurance adjusters will always try to blame injured slip and fall victims whenever possible to decrease the insurance company’s liability.

Workplace Slip and Fall Liability

If you suffer a fall injury on the job , you won’t have to prove liability to collect workers’ compensation benefits. You are entitled to benefits even if you made a mistake that led to your fall.

State workers’ comp rules prohibit the injured employee from suing the employer in most circumstances. However, in cases of extreme negligence, you may have a case.

OSHA has health and safety rules to prevent workplace injuries. If conditions in your work area were in blatant violation of state or federal workplace safety rules, you may have grounds for a lawsuit.

Do You Need an Attorney?

To obtain a fair settlement for trip or slip and fall injuries, you must be able to prove that the property owner is liable. For slip and fall victims with severe injuries, the best way to accomplish this is to hire a reputable slip and fall attorney .

Most injury law firms offer a free consultation to victims. If you decide to hire an attorney after your consultation,  they usually work on a contingency fee basis. With this arrangement, you won’t owe them anything until your case settles.

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• The Magazine

10 Proven Slip-and-Trip Prevention Tactics

By: Jennifer Parrott, RN

Published: 6/25/2024

These practices will put you on the path to a near-perfect safety record.

A safety-first culture in your operating room includes protecting the staff as well as the patients. We haven’t had a fall in nearly a decade because keeping members of our OR team upright is a top priority. Here are 10 ways to reduce or eliminate slips, trips and falls:

1. Dial it back a notch . Slow down. Don’t move too fast. You’ve got to make the safety last. These phrases serve as important reminders of what matters most.

We strive for turnover times between three to 16 minutes depending on the case, but staff safety is the most important metric. It’s important to regularly remind your team their welfare comes first.

2. Traffic control. We aim to keep as much equipment as possible along perimeters of the room until needed, so it’s not in the main area of foot traffic. We also use our anterooms to hold extra equipment and non-sterile supplies that might be called for throughout the day to keep the ORs free of nonessential clutter. Additionally, we direct as much foot traffic as we can through our sub-sterile rooms to keep air disturbance to a minimum.

3. Manage cords and cables . When going wireless isn’t an option, we place all machines with cords toward the back of the room. This minimizes the length of cords on the floors. The sections that are in the open are safely secured with cord covers.

Always be aware, however, that even cord covers are potential trip hazards. Though much safer than exposed cords, covers still can be turned upside down by the foot of a staff member. This is why we keep the lengths of cords on the floor to a minimum.

Our OR teams are also asked to wear closed-toe, slip-resistant shoes, which help with infection control and protect them from tripping.

4. Lighting types and outlet placement . Fluorescent lighting is preferable because its brightness allows everyone in the room to see clearly and identify if there are any hazards in the way. We also try to use outlets on our ceiling-mounted booms and towers, or ones that are at the head of the room where the anesthesia machine is located to reduce cord clutter. We try to not use the outlets located elsewhere in the OR for devices that would require a cord on the floor.

Reeducation and declaring a people-first culture is the best way to minimize slips, trips and falls.

5. The fluid situation . We use black mats that are very absorbent during arthroscopic procedures — as many as are needed. Generally, however, only one or two are required to absorb the splash-off. The mats, which have a slip-resistant backing, are simply rolled up and disposed of at the end of each case. We also use an aspirator with small plastic attachments that we put on the floor to suck up fluids not absorbed by the mats.

6. Cleaning the floor . This is the last task of the room turnover. We use a cleaner/disinfectant with a short drying time — around three minutes. Using products that take several minutes to dry increases the chance of someone falling. Our flooring has a slightly textured surface that’s designed to reduce fall risks even when it’s damp.

7. Surgical checklist . We always go over any special equipment needs and other concerns during the time out. This gives the staff a chance to reconsider where they’ve placed items in the room and think about changing things if necessary. The surgical safety checklist contains a fall risk assessment to address any heightened concerns about the case at hand.

Nearly half of the 1,411 sentinel events reported to The Joint Commission (TJC) last year were falls, according to the agency’s annual report on the occurrences that cause significant harm that was released in May.

Patient falls have been the leading type of sentinel event reported to TJC since at least 2019. A total of 672 events categorized as patient falls were reported in 2023, nearly 48% of all reported events. The main types of injuries suffered during the falls were broken hips, legs, shoulders, arms or ribs, as well as head injuries. Approximately 4% of the falls were fatal, 8% resulted in permanent harm to the patient and 80% caused severe harm, according to the report.

Thirty-five percent of the falls took place while the patients were ambulating, 25% of the cases were patients falling from beds and 19% occurred while patients were toileting. The report states a mix of not following fall risk assessments, inadequate ability to recognize abnormal clinical signs or signals, and poor staff-to-staff communication during handoffs or transitions of care contributed to the incidents.

Wrong surgeries were the second most frequent sentinel events last year, making up 8% of the events reported. The TJC has resources such as this one  to help guide facilities in reducing patient falls.

— Outpatient Surgery Editors

8. Staff training . In small OR spaces where people are moving quickly, situational awareness is critical. All team members must be cognizant of their surroundings and how the actions of their teammates could impact them. We train everyone on what to look for in advance, so they’re prepared to act when they open the door with no surprises. Also, immediate training should be conducted when a new product that has a cord arrives. This shouldn’t be delayed until annual safety measures are reviewed. We’re vigilant about training new employees on safety issues and require existing employees to maintain a safety competency.

9. Fight fatigue with culture . To truly make safety a priority, it’s important to place a high value on keeping the team sharp. Despite constant pressures at high-volume facilities to get the job done, the culture must encourage staff to speak up if they need a break during their shift or if they require a mental health day.

10. Eternal vigilance . Reeducation and declaring a people-first culture is the best way to minimize slips, trips and falls. There’s no surefire way to completely prevent them, but when an incident does occur, we investigate immediately, identify what went wrong and take measures to prevent it from happening again.

An initiative-taking approach is a must. Taking these risks lightly puts staff at risk. Prevention processes should always be a top priority. OSM

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Personal Injury Blog

Common Causes of Slip and Fall Accidents

Bill Allen | June 19, 2024 | Slip & Fall Accidents

If you have ever been in a slip and fall accident , you know they are no laughing matter. In fact, slip and fall accidents can and do cause severe injuries . Whether your fall was mild, moderate, or severe, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries and related losses. 

A close look at these types of accidents shows that certain of their causes are more common than others. They tend to repeat on a regular basis and involve negligence . They also entail more than just slipping, extending into tripping and stumbling as well.

Slippery Surfaces

Slippery surfaces are common but not necessarily acceptable. In certain cases, property owners must take reasonable steps to ensure that their walkways are free from slip-causing substances, such as water and other liquids, food items like bananas, and ice.

This duty extends to commercial and residential property owners and tenants. A restaurant, for example, must police its floors for spills that might make a customer slip-trip-and-fall. Similarly, grocery stores and other retail establishments must ensure that aisles are safe.

Private homeowners and tenants must also ensure that visitors don’t suffer injuries. They are required to take reasonable care to keep areas with traffic safe. Mailmen, utility workers, and friends all have a reasonable expectation of not slipping and falling.

Clutter and Debris

Falls leading to serious injuries occur when clutter and debris enter the picture. Exits and entrances should be free from any hindrances. However, property owners and tenants are sometimes negligent , leaving items in doorways or boxes where people don’t expect them. 

Poor Lighting

Proper lighting is necessary on all walkways. People need to see what’s right in front of them as well as where they are going. There are code requirements for lighting, requiring the placement of specific types of lighting around homes and commercial properties. 

Even without code requirements, there is a duty to keep walkways illuminated, especially if risks are present. Slip-trip-and-fall risks associated with poor lighting include:

• Falls from heights
• Non-visible tripping hazards
• Non-visible slipping hazards
• Unperceived holes 
• Unperceived uneven pavement.

In some cases, warning signs may serve as sufficient warning for slip and trip hazards. However, property owners need to take steps in a reasonable amount of time to address any known risks. 

Broken or Defective Stairs and Walkways

Stairs are commonly involved in slip-trip-and-fall accidents but not always because of slippery surfaces. Stairs and landings in disrepair cause all manner of trip-and-fall accidents. 

Improperly installed stairs and landings also lead to injuries. Building and residential codes dictate the manner in which stairways, stairsteps, porches, and the like are to be laid out for the public. In many cases, they must have guardrails and handrails to prevent falls. Property owners who fail to comply with these regulations can be held liable if injuries occur. 

Walkways must be reasonably safe to use as well. Sidewalks and other paths in poor condition can easily lead to stumbling. Concrete walkways and surfaces suffer from holes and deep cracks. These conditions should be remedied promptly when members of the public must transit areas with these defects. 

Cords and Wires

Cords and wires are essential for most businesses and houses. However, they need never be in a place where they can trip someone. Nonetheless, trips and falls from cords happen all too often. Visitors to a property can find themselves tripping over carelessly placed extension cords or cords for appliances and electronics. 

On job sites, such as construction sites, wires are commonly run throughout the work area. Safety protocols dictate how wires are to be handled and run. However, property owners and bosses sometimes fail to follow Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) guidelines . 

Keep in mind that on-the-job slip, trip, and fall injuries are typically handled by workers’ compensation insurance, which does not allow an injured employee to sue their boss for negligence. However, a negligent property owner who is not the boss may be sued.

In cases where a negligent property owner is the cause of a work accident, the injured worker may have two claims: one for workers’ compensation and one against the property owner.

Common Slip and Fall Injuries

These types of accidents have the potential to cause some of the most serious injuries people can face. They can even lead to death. Some of these injuries include:

• Traumatic brain and skull injuries
• Spinal cord injuries and injuries to the neck and back
• Broken and fractured bones
• Internal injuries and bleeding
• Dislocation of joints
• Sprains and strains
• Piercing injuries

Although seeking medical treatment is a personal decision, victims are strongly advised to seek medical attention after being injured. A medical report will provide the documentation you need to prove your injuries, and, more importantly, your injuries will be addressed. 

Common Locations for Slip, Trip, and Fall Accidents

Accidents in this category can happen anywhere people walk. The risk of them occurring tends to rise the more people roam freely throughout a certain area or location. Common accident locations include:

• Restaurants and cafes
• Apartment buildings
• Amusement parks and waterparks 
• Stadiums and sports arenas
• Swimming pools
• Malls and shopping centers
• Grocery stores
• Convenience stores

Many of these locations are commercial establishments. Slip, trip, and fall accidents do happen in residential settings, but they occur much more frequently at places of business. 

Compensation You Can Recover

Ultimately, someone should typically pay after a slip and fall accident because negligence is often a common denominator. Victims can access valuable damages for their losses, including:

• Present and future medical costs
• Lost wages and future lost income
• Pain and suffering
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Other intangible losses

In the unfortunate event of a fatality, wrongful death damages can be appropriate as well. 

Justice for Your Injuries

If you have been injured in a slip, trip, and fall accident, an attorney can help you get justice for your injuries. Insurance companies will try to pay you less. However, with an attorney fighting for you, your chances of a fair settlement or verdict rise significantly.

Contact Our Gainesville Slip and Fall Law Firm in North Central Florida

If you need legal assistance, contact the Gainesville slip and fall lawyers at Allen Law Accident & Injury Lawyers at your nearest location to schedule a free consultation today.

We have three convenient locations in North Central Florida :

Allen Law Accident & Injury Lawyers – Gainesville office 2550 SW 76th St #150 Gainesville, FL 32608 (877) 255-3652

Allen Law Accident & Injury Lawyers – Downtown Gainesville 621 W University Ave Gainesville, FL 32601 (866) 928-6292

Allen Law Accident & Injury Lawyers – Ocala Office 112 S Pine Ave Ocala, FL 34471 (352) 351-3258

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Police investigate Loudoun County elected officials after taxpayer-funded travel: Sources

by Nick Minock

LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va. (7News) — Did Loudoun County Board Chair Phyllis Randall and other elected officials break state law with how they spent their time and taxpayer money on lavish international trips?

According to sources familiar with the situation, the Virginia State Police is looking into it.

READ | Emails show staff warning Loudoun Co. Chair Phyllis Randall about Ghana's anti-LGBTQ laws

For the past year, 7News has been showing how Loudoun County tax dollars were spent on elected officials’ international sister city trips.

The Virginia State Police is investigating the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors taxpayer-funded international travel, according to sources familiar with the situation.

ALSO READ | Loudoun County officials take taxpayer-funded trip to Uruguay, visit wineries, cannabis lab and horse farm

7News was the first to show how Chair Randall and Loudoun County Supervisor Juli Briskman spent tax dollars on a trip to Uruguay last year and how Randall, Loudoun County Supervisor Koran Saines, Loudoun County Supervisor Sylvia Glass, and county staff spent their time and tax dollars last year for a trip to Ghana.

7News showed how the elected officials spent more than $7,300 each on airline tickets in United Polaris Business class to and from Ghana, they stayed at a five-star resort on the beach, and they spent time at tourist hot spots. Randall and Saines also brought a political donor’s husband on the trip and tax dollars were used for his hotel, plane ticket and food.

In a public records request, 7News found the county purchased a digital camera. 7News submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for all the photos taken on the trips. 7News received several photos from the FOIA request, including a picture of Briskman enjoying a swim in the water in Uruguay.

Randall and Briskman flew business class to Uruguay, stayed at a five-star resort overlooking a beach, visited wineries, and a cannabis lab, and participated in a beachside seafood lunch and visited an equestrian club for sunset cocktails.

And Briskman billed the county for her oversized bag fee on the way home from Uruguay.

Randall brought her husband with her to Ghana. And Randall upgraded her hotel room because her husband was with her. That more than doubled the cost of Randall’s hotel room, which tax dollars were used for until 7News began asking questions.

DETAILS | Taxpayers foot the bill for Loudoun County politicians' lavish $60,000 trip to Ghana

The day after 7News Reporter Nick Minock asked Randall about her hotel room upgrade in July 2023, Randall said she reflected on 7News’ question, and she told us she would reimburse the county for the difference in the hotel room upgrade.

But when 7News checked in with the county two months later, 7News found Randall only paid back half of the difference.

Later that year, a third-party audit was done on the county. The audit looked into Randall’s hotel room upgrade.

The audit said Randall repaid the rest of the hotel room upgrade to the county days before the audit was made public in December. The audit raised red flags about the county’s travel policy and recommended changes.

When 7News asked what residents of Loudoun County are getting from these trips, Randall answered:

“$1.37 billion in commercial investment,” Randall said. “2,500 new jobs, $1.37 billion in investment, over 100 new businesses.”

As a 7News investigation found, Randall --- and other county supervisors --- drastically exaggerated how many jobs and investments her trips have generated in Loudoun County.

MORE | Loudoun County supervisors appear to exaggerate sister city trip economic benefit

And Randall still has not provided evidence that her lavish trips have directly brought jobs and investments to Loudoun County.

Randall has gone on at least seven international trips paid for with tax dollars.

7News asked the Virginia State Police about their investigation into the elected officials.

The Virginia State Police said it’s their policy not to comment on investigations of elected officials.

On June 28, 2024, 7News asked Randall, Briskman, Saines, and Glass, “What is your response to the Virginia State Police looking into your travel that was paid for by tax dollars?”

Randall, Briskman, Saines, and Glass still have not responded to 7News’ question.

“I trust the Virginia State Police to conduct a thorough investigation and uncover any and all misconduct or criminal wrongdoing,” Del. Michael Webert told 7News. “It is still hard to understand why our bipartisan bills to curtail such reckless spending in the first place were stopped by House Democrats.”

7News asked Loudoun County for a response on Friday, June 28. We did not receive a response until after our story aired on Wednesday, July 3. The County Attorney for Loudoun County Government, Leo P. Rogers, disputes the story but acknowledged that he reviewed the information that was forwarded to Virginia State Police.

Rogers statements says in part: "The Commonwealth’s Attorney forwarded the emails he received to the Virginia State Police to assess the validity of the content of the emails. All expenditures by members of the Board and their staff for all travel have been made in accordance with the law and county policies and all travel and expenditures were conducted in a transparent manner. In fact, the chair’s travel was pre-approved on January 18, 2023, by an independent body, the Economic Development Authority. Additionally, the travel was publicly discussed at the 2023 State of the County address, the February 14, 2023, Finance/Government Operations and Economic Development Committee, and the February 21, 2023, Board of Supervisors meetings—all of which are in the county’s archives.

The travel was consistent will all policies and laws.”

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Biden’s evolving reasons for his bad debate: A cold, too much prep, not feeling great and jet lag

At Tuesday’s daily White House briefing, a reporter asked the press secretary a direct question about President Biden’s cognitive state, in the aftermath of last week’s debate performance.

President Joe Biden, right, and Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump, left, participate in a presidential debate hosted by CNN, Thursday, June 27, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

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White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks during a press briefing, Wednesday, July 3, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has offered plenty of excuses for his terrible performance in last week’s presidential debate . None of them have done much to assuage Democrats’ concerns about Donald Trump returning to the White House.

For its part, Biden’s White House insists these are explanations, not excuses. But they have only intensified the concerns Democrats have about their presumptive nominee’s readiness.

In the initial moments of Thursday’s debate, shortly after the 81-year old Biden claimed to a baffled audience that “we finally beat Medicare,” aides said the president was suffering from a cold.

Biden’s voice was raspy. His eyes looked glassy at times. But despite the cold, he went from the debate to a watch party and then a Waffle House. Then he gave an energized speech Friday in North Carolina.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at Wednesday’s news briefing that she initially leaned into the cold as an explanation, but she knew his schedule and jet lag were issues. She later suggested that Biden traveled and then got a cold, possibly linking the two.

“That was my bad,” Jean-Pierre said of not discussing jet lag earlier.

Studied too hard

Other aides said Biden had simply overprepared during his time at the Camp David presidential retreat — that the president had simply crammed too many facts in his head.

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Biden spent six full days in Maryland at Camp David, which is located in Catoctin Mountain Park. Jean-Pierre said Biden also performed all his presidential duties while working late.

Not feeling great

Biden’s wife, Jill, told supporters Friday in New York City that he didn’t “feel that great” during the debate. It’s not clear what that meant, whether it was the cold, a sense of exhaustion or something else. But the first lady put forward the campaign’s main argument that 90 minutes should not define his entire presidency.

Jet lag — from a trip nearly two weeks earlier

Biden offered another explanation Tuesday night at a Virginia fundraiser, saying his problem was jet lag after having gone to France, California and then Italy before taking down time in Delaware and at Camp David. He arrived at Camp David on June 20, seven days before the debate. The presidential retreat is in the Eastern Time Zone, the same as CNN’s studios in Atlanta.

“I decided to travel around the world a couple of times, going through I don’t know how many time zones,” said Biden, adding that he went through “15 time zones” and joking that he “then came back and nearly fell asleep on stage.”

That explanation raised more questions about how long Biden requires to recover from travel.

“I would say I don’t think it’s a new excuse,” Jean-Pierre said of the jet lag, adding that it was a lot of travel before stressing that “we certainly don’t want to explain this away.”

Why he didn’t do more damage control: Air travel

Jean-Pierre later added that Biden did not do more damage control on his debate performance immediately afterward because he was traveling in North Carolina, New York and New Jersey before returning late Saturday night to Camp David.

Air Force One is equipped with extensive communications equipment so that presidents can stay informed while midair.

Biden’s omnipresent accessory, even in your living room: A teleprompter

The teleprompter is a common device for politicians. But Biden’s use of it even in small settings has prompted frustration among some supporters.

PALO ALTO, Calif. — President Biden was in a multimillion-dollar home here, standing in an open kitchen as donors sat on couches and chairs arranged around the adjacent living room. Everything about the scene spoke to the kind of intimate setting that donors pay thousands of dollars to attend, with a chance to have a small interaction with the world’s most powerful officeholder in someone’s home.

But there was a discordant addition to the cozy gathering where about 30 people had assembled: At the front of the room, where the president spoke, stood a lectern and a teleprompter, two large screens hovering about six feet high.

It was a physical manifestation of the type of accommodation that White House officials over the past year have come to make for an aging president. But while most of the changes have been aimed at addressing his physical ailments — tennis shoes and shorter steps to Air Force One so he doesn’t trip, smaller distances to cover so his short shuffle isn’t as pronounced, having his wife nearby to assist on stairs — the teleprompter has been the primary accommodation to assist a president whose speech can meander and who can seem to lose his train of thought.

For much of his political career, one of Biden’s hallmarks has been his plain-spokenness, his identity as an off-the-cuff pol who did little to shield his real thoughts. He was a self-professed “gaffe machine,” a trait that endeared him to voters even if it gave his advisers heartburn.

“No one ever doubts I mean what I say,” the president has often said. “The problem is, I sometimes say all that I mean.”

In recent years, his aides have tried to rein him in more, especially as he ascended to a position where a small verbal misstep can have global impact.

Even so, early in his presidency, he remained largely unscripted during fundraisers, when he was speaking to his biggest fans and offered a more unvarnished window into the presidential mind. Such settings are where he disclosed fundraising figures earlier than advisers wanted him to, where he offered blunt assessments of foreign adversaries like Russian President Vladimir Putin, where he let slip candid comments about Donald Trump at a time when he was otherwise rarely speaking of his predecessor.

But recently that, too, has been altered, as Teleprompter Joe replaced the off-the-cuff president. And that has not gone unnoticed by donors who increasingly are treated not to informal private remarks from the president, but to the same scripted comments he makes in public. And now, some donors fret that his advisers are providing these scripts in part to avoid the sort of moments the public saw during the presidential debate, a rare event when Biden could not read notes and did not have the benefit of a teleprompter.

Before news conferences, his staffers call reporters in an effort to ferret out what questions they might ask, a practice that was not typical in earlier presidencies. For some major interview opportunities like the Super Bowl, Biden’s team has simply declined, giving up a chance that most politicians would grasp at eagerly.

In the past year, Biden has almost never appeared in public without the use of the teleprompter. The rare exceptions are news conferences, which have been few and far between, and media interviews, which he has granted more rarely than any recent president, according to tallies.

Biden’s staff argues that teleprompters are now routine equipment for any politician, given the need to juggle endless meetings and responsibilities and the lack of time to rehearse before every appearance.

“Look, it is not unusual for a president to use a teleprompter. It is not unusual,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said this week when asked about the president’s reliance on scripted remarks. “That is something that presidents have done in the past.”

Which Democrats are calling on Biden to drop out?

The Biden campaign said the president does much of his delicate, demanding work behind the scenes without a teleprompter or any other such aid.

“The President regularly does engagements without a teleprompter, not the least of which are contentious, high stakes negotiations with world leaders and Republican leaders in the House and Senate,” said campaign spokeswoman Lauren Hitt.

“By Republicans’ own accounting at the time, he handles those negotiations more than adeptly, using his experience and acumen to avoid multiple government shutdowns, deliver aid to Ukraine and stand up to Putin, passing the first bipartisan gun reform in 30 years, and finally delivering much needed funding for our nation’s crumbling infrastructure,” she added.

A teleprompter can only do so much work, and Biden is still capable of veering from it, sometimes offering comments that stray from the official line of his own White House. He commented that Putin “cannot remain in power” as an ad-libbed line at the end of a speech in Poland, for example, forcing his aides to clarify that the U.S. policy had not changed to include regime change in Moscow.

Biden’s reliance on a teleprompter has become increasingly problematic, some aides and donors say, at high-dollar fundraisers, where supporters are paying thousands of dollars for a private audience with the president, often in intimate settings. The campaign fielded a flurry of concerns in particular after an April fundraiser in Chicago at the home of Michael Sacks, a major Democratic donor.

Biden only spoke for 14 minutes, took no questions and then left, frustrating donors who wanted more opportunities to engage with the president, according to people familiar with the event who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive issue. Even with the teleprompter, Biden struggled with his delivery, and some donors said they had trouble hearing him. After the event, several donors in attendance grumbled to campaign officials about Biden using a teleprompter in an intimate space like Sacks’s living room.

Biden himself worries frequently about being prepared , aides and associates say. The president, who overcame a childhood stutter that still occasionally resurfaces, spends significant time working on speeches and, particularly during his campaign four years ago, he would say, “The words of a president matter.” He fine-tunes his phrases and is wary of making any mistake. And, in what may be a lingering effect of a 1988 presidential campaign that was derailed when he was accused of plagiarism, now sometimes attributes even mundane phrases to other sources.

“As the old saying goes, ‘Give me a break,’” he said while campaigning in August 2020.

But Biden throughout his career has resisted staying on message, and teleprompters have been a way for his exasperated aides to try to keep him on track.

When he was vice president, the military officers who ran the device would often find it challenging to keep up since Biden would veer so often from the text he was supposed to be reading. Once, the teleprompter unexpectedly rebooted toward the end of a speech, forcing Biden to ad-lib while his speechwriter at the time, Dylan Loewe, frantically retyped the ending in real time.

“When it was over, I thought he’d be mad,” Loewe recounted in an earlier interview. “But he came over and high-fived me and said, ‘That was the most fun I’ve had all day.’”

“Some of his worst moments have happened when he’s veered off script,” he added. “But most of his best moments have happened that way, too.”

In addition to Biden’s reliance on a teleprompter, donors have grown frustrated by his refusal to take questions at his fundraisers.

One business executive who organized a fundraiser in the past year said some donors pulled out, declining to donate or attend the fundraiser after learning they could not ask questions. Many of them had been writing checks of $100,000 or more. The executive said that when they helped raise money for Biden in 2020, it was clear he was “fragile,” but he was sharp and charming and “seemed with it.”

“The donors I’m talking to, they are depressed,” this person said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter. “It’s just a total mess. Everyone knew that he wasn’t as sharp as he used to be, but the debate truly shocked people.”

In the days since the debate, Biden and his team have sought to reassure Democrats his performance last week was an aberration. But his appearances at a slew of fundraisers in the days since have done little to reassure them.

“The thing that pissed people off, they waited for three hours, and he spoke for [eight] minutes,” said a donor who attended a fundraiser in East Hampton, N.Y., on Saturday. “It was a teleprompter. No questions. He was out of there. They were disappointed with the brevity of his remarks, the lack of his interaction with the crowd, that he didn’t take any questions.”

The donor said they had probably attended 10 or 15 fundraisers with Biden in the past, and the “problem in the past is you couldn’t get him to stop taking questions. He’d stay forever. He’d never leave. He’d work the line and shake every hand, he’d want to take more questions than the audience even had.”

On Tuesday, after months of relying on a teleprompter and with criticism mounting, Biden’s aides finally decided he would appear without one. When he walked to the front of a living room in McLean, Va., he stood in front of a large fireplace and spoke to several dozen people.

He workshopped a new line, suggesting that his busy schedule and foreign travels were a reason for his poor debate performance and adding a punchline. “I came back and nearly fell asleep onstage,” Biden said to some laughter.

But he was also soft-spoken at times, with several lines hard to hear from the back of the room. After about six minutes, he wrapped up, before singer Renée Fleming came to perform a song made famous by singer Ella Fitzgerald, “All the Things You Are.”