Tailgate Tips: Preventing Workplace Slips, Trips, and Falls
In the same spirit as tailgate talks, Tailgate Tips will focus on health and safety, hazard awareness, and injury prevention.
Canadian Occupational Safety features a new report from Mister Safety Shoes on why workplace falls are some of the most preventable injuries.
Over 42,000 Canadian workers are injured on the job each year because of falls, according to the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety. Two thirds of these falls (66 per cent) are due to ground-level slips while just over one-third (34 per cent) are falls from ladders, stairs, roofs, and other height-related conditions. Often these injuries occur despite employees following established safety equipment procedures.
Slips, trips, and falls (STFs) in the workplace can lead to extended time away from work, reductions in productivity, and can amount to as much as $59,000 per injury. A report from Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board says that with a profit margin of 5 per cent, “the sales and services required to cover the cost of one injury equals $1.2 million.”
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In their white paper, Mister Safety Shoes lists eight actionable recommendations workplace managers and leaders can incorporate into an effective health and safety plan built to minimize STF hazards and prevent serious accidents. Precautions include the identification of areas where snow, ice, and other slippery conditions can occur so these areas can be kept clear, and an understanding of the impact “transition zones” can have on STF hazards.