How can you help prevent slips, trips, and falls in your facility?

Apr 01 2022 Safety 5 Min. Read

Accidents happen. Slips, trips, and falls are among the most common industrial accidents. The National Floor Safety Institute says that slips and falls are the leading cause of workers’ compensation claims and the top cause of occupational injury for people 55+. Workers may be out around 12 days. Medical costs average $17,200 to $27,500. We all want to avoid that!

So, let’s look at what can cause workplace trips, slip, and falls accidents and how a good floor cleaning program can help prevent them.

What causes slip, trip, fall accidents?

Sure, everyone trips and falls sometimes. But there are avoidable conditions that make slips, trips, and falls more likely.

1. Uneven surfaces

All floor surfaces break down over time. Concrete floors develop cracks and holes from foot and vehicle traffic. Floor coatings can chip or wear. Even variations as small as ¼” can cause tripping and falls.

2. Poor traction

Some floor surfaces are too slick, offering little or no traction even when dry.

3. Wet and dry contaminants

Overspray from manufacturing processes or even cleaning chemicals can leave floors wet and slippery. Build-up of dry materials like metal dust, particles and other debris can cause tripping and slipping.

To prevent trips, slips, and falls, the operations and maintenance teams can take action on the first two in your daily processes and guidelines. The third—wet and dry contaminants—can be averted by implementing an effective floor maintenance program.

Questions to ask yourself

First, based on square footage, floor type, debris type and budget—do I have the right floor maintenance equipment I need to get the job done right and efficiently?

How efficient is my current equipment and/or system? Could I save labor cost and improve results by investing in an industrial scrubber or sweeper? Or upgrading current equipment?

Next, do I have an effective cleaning schedule set up? Is it working?

Does the current floor cleaning plan cover emergency procedures such as how to handle various types of spills (i.e., wet, oily, chemical)?

Can industrial floor cleaning equipment help prevent falls?

Because of the high cost of labor, facilities with a large square footage of floor space to clean call for industrial floor cleaning equipment. Most plants and warehouses are way too expansive for mops and push brooms. Industrial sweepers and scrubbers provide more consistent, efficient, and effective cleaning.

But let’s compare the labor cost and ROI on your investment in a scrubber. I used this cool tool on Bortek’s website:

Screenshot from Bortek's website

Another caveat we may not think about right away is that an industrial automatic floor scrubber does not reuse dirty water like a mop and bucket does. Ewwww! A floor scrubber will leave your floor much, much cleaner. In a floor scrubber, the clean water solution feeds through the floor scrubber, to the brush system and floor, then up to the dirty water tank via the squeegee vacuum system.

And, speaking of avoiding slips, trips, and falls, consider the safety factor floor scrubbers, sometimes called scrubber-dryers, provide by leaving the floor absolutely dry instantly or within seconds while a mop and bucket leave the floor wet much longer setting up inherently hazardous conditions for slips, trips, and falls.

Evaluate the needs of each area separately

When creating your floor cleaning plan, take into consideration that some areas of your facility may have more spills or require more frequent, deeper, or more aggressive cleaning so create a cleaning plan that takes these differences into account.

Sweep before you scrub

As advised by Dave Ditty from Nilfisk-Advance in this Industrial Floor Cleaning Bulletin, (download PDF), “here are some initial factors to consider when determining whether sweeping, scrubbing or a combination of both is best for your plant or warehouse.

The size of dirt and debris particles generated
The amount of dirt and debris generated
The character of the dirt (fibrous, oily, dusty, wet)
The type of floor surface (tile, bare concrete, coated concrete, outdoor, etc.)
A definition of what constitutes “clean” for your facility

“Clean” can mean anything from getting rid of chunks of dirt on the floor to creating a shiny, scuff-free surface. Your facility's cleanliness goal will be a factor in your equipment choice. For example, if “clean” means getting rid of forklift tire marks and other stains in addition to dust and debris, then your cleaning process will have to include scrubbing as well as sweeping.

After you assess the size and amount of dirt and debris to be removed, your primary decision is “sweep or scrub.” This decision is not always straightforward. For example, if the material to be cleaned is mostly fine dust, it would seem that a sweeper would be the ideal tool to remove it. But the best way to handle dust is to “add water,” which in turn eliminates your dust problem; this means a scrubber may actually be the better equipment choice.”

Do you have a spill action plan?

Spills are unsightly, but more importantly, they’re dangerous. All employees need to know how to mark the spill and have the signs readily available so others can avoid it. Next step, alert the cleaning staff to handle the spill. Then, your cleaning team needs to act quickly, following instructions in the cleaning plan for handling the types of spills encountered in the facility

Rely on Morrison

Our floor cleaning professionals will work with you to help you determine the best solutions for your operation—from industrial floor cleaning equipment to a developing floor cleaning processes, procedures, and schedules.

Answering your questions and helping you establish a tailored floor cleaning plan are integral parts of our service.

We offer top quality floor cleaning equipment from leading OEMs, the largest sweeper/scrubber parts inventory in the Midwest, and factory-trained service technicians for ongoing support and fast, knowledgeable service and parts for all brands of industrial floor cleaning equipment.