LTI Caution. Watch Your Footing!
Take a moment to check your environment and footing
Noggin #769 23/02/18: Walking out to have lunch, a worker stepped into a hole twisting his knee. The hole, created by an old rotted-down thinning stump, was knee deep and proved treacherous to this worker. He was taken to hospital and his leg was placed into a brace. He has not been able to complete light duties and will likely require an operation to repair damage to his knee.
Noggin #452 12/10/17: A worker stepped out of the container onto uneven ground and sprained his ankle. This incident resulted in lost time for the individual concerned.
Most slips and trips do not result in serious injury, however, some have life changing consequences particularly for older workers!
Generally, as we age, flexibility and nimbleness decrease, and our eyesight and hearing diminish. The workplace becomes a fertile breeding ground for slip and trip incidents.
Professor Tim Marsh, a safety culture expert, reminds us that even the most able amongst us have lapses of concentration as he says sometimes up to 5 to 10 minutes of dopey time in every hour. In response, one of the most proactive approaches we can take is to make our immediate environment safer by removing hazards, obstructions and dodgy objects that we can trip over or fall off. Take a few moments to look around your work site. Are we persisting with a dodgy entrance to a container? Are older workers struggling with access and egress?
Why not take a few moments to make your environment safer?
View this article in Safety Bulletin 112