Each time Wayne De L’Orme speaks about slips, trips and falls, he is reminded of an incident some eight years ago when a young worker clearing up debris on the third floor of a construction site fell to her death because of a poorly bolted barrier.

All the workers knew about the unstable barrier, but the woman was unaware of the unmarked hazard. She must have slipped on a piece of debris, tried to regain her balance of the unfastened barrier and fell to her death on the floor below, said De L’Orme, office director of the Industrial Health and Safety unit of Ontario’s Ministry of Labour.

“It was a needless death. A simple sign or workers taking the time to secure the barrier could have easily prevented it,” recounts the 20-year labour ministry veteran.

For De L’Orme the woman’s death underscores the daily dangers that slips, trips and falls pose to almost any one. “She bore an uncanny resemblance to my young daughter, and I guess that sends a message to me that our negligence in the workplace can mean danger to anyone.”

No less than 60,000 workers are injured each year due to slips, trips and falls (STF), according to statistics from the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety. This number represents about 15 per cent of all time-loss injuries accepted by workers’ compensation boards or commissions across the country.

Apart from pain and sorrow that fatalities and injuries cause, these accidents are also a financial drain, according to Sandro Perruzza, chief of client service for the Ontario Workplace Safety and Prevention Services (WSPS).

In Ontario, which is one of Canada’s most expensive provinces, there are about 17,000 STF incidents each year. About 10 of those incidents result in death.

The average cost of an STF incident is $3,500 in direct Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) costs and as much as $21,000 in indirect costs, which include worker and equipment replacement, downtime, legal expenses and other expenditures.

“So, if a company has a five per cent profit margin, the amount of sales it needs to generate in order to recover the cost of a single STF injury is in the order of $420,000,” said Perruzza.

Preventable
While STFs are among the most common causes of injuries in the workplace, they are also among the most easily preventable. “STFs need not occur with such staggering frequency. But they do because many managers, supervisors and workers are not mindful or aware of where incidents are likely to happen and cause injuries,” Perruzza said.

He listed three things that workplace managers, supervisors and workers should do:
•    Understand how fall accidents happen
•    Identify the trouble area
•    Eliminate or minimize

STF hazards
Slips occur when there is too little friction or traction between the footwear and walking surface, according to Michael Chappell, provincial coordinator of the Construction Health and Safety Program of the Ontario Ministry of Labour.

Chappell said slips are likely to happen in work areas that have the following conditions:
•    Wet or oily surfaces
•    Occasional spills
•    Weather hazards, such as snow and ice
•    Loose and unanchored rugs or mats
•    Very smooth or slippery surfaces

Trips happen when a person’s foot or feet strike or hit an object and cause the individual to lose balance and eventually fall. Common causes are:
•    Obstructed view
•    Poor lighting
•    Cluttered walkways
•    Wrinkled carpeting
•    Cables or equipment
•    Uneven surfaces