Slips, trips and falls result in thousands of preventable injuries. They occur in all sorts of places such as shopping centres, retail outlets, restaurants, offices and apartment buildings.

The business owner and building manager of the business are legally required to ensure that their spaces are safe, secure, cleaned and maintained regularly.

According to Claims Advice, common slip & fall accidents are:

• Slipping and falling on food or fluids on the ground or walls.
• Walking through a shop that has slippery floors.
• Tripping over cables or ropes or misplaced objects.
• Tripping and falling as a result of bad lighting.
• Tripping over uneven ground/floor.
• Falling down stairs because of broken steps or lack of handrails.
• Accidents involving faulty playground equipment.
• Coming into contact with exposed electric cables.

Over 12 years (2003 - 2015) Safe Work Australia, reported the following statistics on slips, trips and falls:

• 386 workers died due to a slip, trip or fall in the workplace
• 23% of incidents led to serious claims
• 56% of the time they were caused by Environmental Factors. These include slippery surfaces following rain or spills, poorly designed or maintained walkways, poor lighting on stairs and walkways and trip hazards for example from poorly stored materials.

Australian Case Example:

A woman, aged 36, had been in the fruit shop (in NSW) when she slipped on the wet floor and landed heavily on her side.

This resulted in her:

• soft tissue injury to her neck, right shoulder, arm and upper and lower back.
• After the accident, she experienced restriction of movement, discomfort, headaches, depression and anxiety.
• a wedge fracture in her spine which worsened her condition, causing ongoing pain and;
• post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

She took legal action against the shop, claiming damages for personal injury.

In total, she was awarded more than $660,000.

SWS Group can help protect you from a potential Slip, Trips and Falls Lawsuit with the following services:

Floormats:

Placing a floor mat at the entrances will not only reduce the water and mud that can get on people’s feet during the winter months, but also protect your floor from damage. A damaged or wet floor can increase the risk of a slip and fall accident.

Our Industrial Laundry company, Cleantex, can provide Floor Mat rentals.

Other benefits of our professional mat services include:

• Prolongs the life of floors and carpets, delaying replacement costs
• Reduces cleaning time and materials costs
• Prevents unsightly marks within entrances and other doorways
• Reduces dust levels, helping avoid problems with e.g. ventilation ducts or electronic equipment; and
• Reinforces your brand image with mats with your logo or message.
• A welcoming entrance and clean, dry floors are important to your customers. No other rental mats can compare to the performance and quality of our High-Performance Mats.

Cleaning:

You can prevent slip and fall accidents by having clean floors (clean from spillages and slippery floors) and lights (dust may build up on the lights and make the lighting inefficient).  

Our Commercial Cleaning Company, Cleanpro, can provide Commercial Cleaning for your company. We also offer complete property audits. The innovative technology we use also guarantees accurate results every time. At Cleanpro, safety and security come first. Our company is committed to WHS compliance with site and safety inductions, as well as regular QA inspections.

To talk to an experienced consultant about the aforementioned services call (08) 9336 6944. For more information about the other services we provide go to www.swsgroup.com.au  

Don't risk it. Call us today.