How Floor Treatments Can Prevent, Slips, Trips and Falls

According to OSHA, slips, trips and falls in the workplace cause about 700 fatalities per year. Just warning employees to watch their step isn’t enough to eliminate falls, trips, and slips in the workplace.

How to Prevent Floor Hazards in the Workplace 

Like any safety hazard, these can be determined easily with an inspection. They can be eliminated completely with a floor treatment plan. Here are some things you should investigate to prevent accidents:

Improper Installation  

Nip potential hazards in the bud by ensuring the flooring options you choose are installed properly. Any number of installation issues can lead to injuries and repair issues. Make sure the flooring options you select come with instructions for proper installation. This includes the tolerances needed to be maintained during installation to ensure a safe floor.

Unfilled Concrete Joints 

Concrete settles when it cures, so a concrete floor eventually develops cracks over time. These can either form naturally, as the material settles, or along the joints – which are the lines cut in its surface to promote cracking in specific parts.

However, these cracks can create an uneven surface, which can become a tripping hazard. If your employees operate machinery in a production area filled with these cracks, accidents are imminent. Also, the surface will ruin machinery and cause back issues for workers as machinery jostles over the damaged surface.

Slick or Wet Floors

More than 95 million workdays are lost in a year by businesses because of slips, trips, and falls. You can dramatically reduce those numbers for your own enterprise by making sure your floors are regularly mopped. A slick or wet floor in a high production area can lead to serious injuries and can even prove fatal.

Besides mopping up spills, the floor should be treated to improve traction in heavy traffic areas. Get the concrete regularly polished to ensure this, unless your employees work in an environment that has a high level of powder or dust debris. A non-slip floor coating should do the trick for areas that are particularly slippery.

When it comes to workplace liabilities, it is always better to be prepared. At SIA Insurance Group, we take an active approach to insurance, which is encapsulated in our 360 Insurance System. We will evaluate your organization inside and out to determine potential hazards your employees may be facing and come up with solutions that can prevent liabilities. Get in touch with us in Woodridge, Illinois for a consultation today.