Case Study
Slips and Trips in the NHS - the Impact of Cleaning Regimes
The Client
NHS
The Problem
Slips and trips resulting in falls are the most common cause of
major injuries in all workplaces in Great Britain and the second
biggest cause of over 3 day injuries. Over 2000 injuries to
employees in healthcare, attributed to slips and trips, are
reported each year. Many patients and visitors also receive
injuries. The costs of these accidents can be considerable, with
one strategic health authority reporting costs of £92,000 per year,
per trust.
What We Did
HSL undertook research to determine the impact of hospital
cleaning regimes on the rates of slips, trips and falls. In
particular we wanted to assess:
- Current levels of awareness of the impact of cleaning on slips
and t
rips held by health and safety,
housekeeping, supervisory and cleaning staff;
- Factors that impact on the number of slip and trip
accidents;
- How cleaning procedures, techniques and materials are specified
and monitored;
- Interventions that could help reduce the number of slip and
trip accidents in hospitals.
Outcome/Benefits
We found that cleaning teams are generally aware that their work
has the potential to impact on the number of slip and trip
accidents. It is believed that the two main slip and trip hazards
that cleaning teams create are wet floors and trailing cables.
Other factors impacting on slips and trips in hospitals
included
- best practice not followed by cleaning staff;
- public, patient and staff behaviour
- risk assessments
- staffing levels/time pressure
- building design
- weather
- team motivation
- damaged flooring
- tardy reporting of spillages.
This work shows the complex factors that impact upon slips,
trips and falls.
HSL expects that future work will focus around developing best
practice within the NHS. Taking into account some of the factors
above, this may include working with building designers, facilties
management as well as patient groups, highlighting the potentially
diverse range of clients that HSL has.
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