Whether you man a building, cleaning services or people, an important part of your remit is Health and Safety and yet still statistics from the Health and Safety Executive show that one in three slips and trips still occur on wet surfaces, the same HSE figures as for 2010/2011.
Slips trips and falls make up more than half (56%) of all reported major injuries and 29% of these injuries resulted in more than three day’s absence from work. The TUC also quotes that 1.2 million working days were lost due to slips and trips in the same year equating to an annual cost to society of £800 million, not including the impact for individuals.
Slips and falls occur across all sectors from healthcare to manufacturing to retail to offices and this is not just down to spillages and moisture on a hard floor but soil and grease too that builds up which mopping is just not effective at removing. Whether it is the damp surface or greasy coating that causes the accident, either of which may be invisible, research shows it takes approx 7 minutes for the surface to dry and during this time it would be difficult for customers and staff to realise they were walking from a safe to an unsafe surface.
HSE guidance points to the need for out of hours cleaning where feasible, improved training of cleaning staff, effective use of barriers and other types of cleaning e.g. floor cleaning machines all of which we as a company offer as part of our service.
Armed with the evidence, building managers can and should get to grips with the major problem of slips and falls and we’re here to help you do that. Interested and want to know more, call us today on 020 8669 4377 to discuss your requirements and get your free, no obligation cleaning quotation.
