Tag Archives: slips and falls

Prevent Slips and Falls with a Floor Mat Program

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This entry is part 9 of 11 in the series Slips, Trips & Falls

Mirror, mirror on the wall,
How do we prevent a fall?
Clean floors can help with that,
And don’t forget the floor mat!

The average person walks over 8,000 steps a day. All it takes is one slip and fall and your life could be changed in an instant. According to the National Floor Safety Institute (NFSI): “Falls account for over 8 million hospital emergency room visits, representing the leading cause of visits (21.3%). Slips and falls account for over 1 million visits, or 12% of the total falls.” What can we do as employers to protect our employees and customers from slips and falls? One of the best places to start is with a proper floor mat program. (more…)

Falls Are Not Funny

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This entry is part 8 of 11 in the series Slips, Trips & Falls

The National Floor Safety Institute is focused on providing the general public with an educated awareness to the problems of slip and fall injuries. There are many preventive measures that can help to avoid these terrible accidents. It only takes one fall to completely alter the life of a victim.

Slip and fall accidents happen every day and should be a significant cause of concern in both the summer and winter months. In 2009, the total costs of slip and fall accidents was $60 billion, but that number has continued to rise. Today, these accidents account for nearly $80 billion.

Injuries as a result of a slip, trip or fall are the leading cause of injury-related emergency room visits. Unfortunately, the general public is sometimes led to believe all slip, trip and fall injuries are scams. This is not true. There are preventive strategies that can help reduce the frequency of these types of accidents, in turn reducing the number of injuries. (more…)

Restaurant Spill Clean-Up: Easy as 1, 2, 3

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Most spills that occur in restaurants are not large and do not require a massive response, however, a spill of any kind can lead to a slip and fall injury if it is not handled appropriately. Spill clean-up is something to discuss with your staff before a spill ever occurs and a standard spill clean-up plan should be a part of routine staff training. A spill clean-up plan helps ensure that your staff knows exactly how to handle a spill, which will result in consistent responses to any spill. A quick and orderly response to a spill in your restaurant will not only control the situation, but will show your guests just how professional your staff is. (more…)

Slip-Resistant Shoes for Employees

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This entry is part 7 of 11 in the series Slips, Trips & Falls

Did you know that slip, trip and falls are the most common cause of workplace injury, accounting for nearly 40 percent of all reported injuries? The National Safety Council estimates that more than $70 billion is spent annually for worker’s compensation and medical costs linked to falls that occur at work – and when it comes to accidental deaths, only motor vehicle accidents outrank slip, trip and falls. Slip-resistant shoes can help businesses reduce worker’s compensation claims, eliminate workdays lost due to injury, and retain employee productivity.

So, why so many slip and falls? (more…)

Sign On the Dotted Line: The Importance of Understanding Service Provider Contracts

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This entry is part 2 of 5 in the series Business Contracts

Picture this: An elderly couple wakes up on a cold morning in the middle of winter and they head out for breakfast. On their way, Lenny and Gertrude decide to swing by your business. They pull in and park their car. Lenny rushes out to open Gertrude’s door, as he has done thousands of times before. In his haste, poor Lenny doesn’t notice a small patch of ice on the ground and he slips, breaking his hip. Lenny doesn’t believe your business caused the fall and refuses to turn in a claim. However his healthcare provider, knowing the incident occurred on your property, has gladly decided to pursue a claim on his behalf and begins sending threatening letters to your business.

As a claims professional, hundreds of claims cross my desk in a given year but no claim type matches the frequency and severity that comes with slips, trips, and falls. Often times these falls occur as a result of snow and ice in a parking lot that is serviced by a contractor or as a result of rugs delivered by a linen provider. It’s only after a claim has occurred that a second thought is given to that contract you signed with a service provider that ended up stuffed into the bottom of a filing cabinet somewhere. The simple truth when it comes to liability is that those contracts do matter. They may not always be iron-clad but they can help or hurt your bottom line. (more…)

5 Tips to Avoid Falls in Slippery Work Environments

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This entry is part 8 of 13 in the series Safe With Society

As we celebrate our 100th year in business in 2015, we embark on another century of commitment to our policyholders. Our mission is to protect the livelihoods of our policyholders, and, as the saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. In keeping with that theme, we’ll celebrate our 100th year in business with 100 important tips to help identify, evaluate and prevent dangers that could result in financial loss or injury in a year-long “Safe with Society” blog series.

Employees who work in slippery conditions, such as kitchens or grocery food prep areas are often subject to slips and falls due to floor conditions. Cooking with oil and working with water, ice, or other food materials can cause a very hazardous surface, especially when combined with staff hurrying due to their workload. This may result in frequent slips and falls.

Remember these tips to reduce slip and fall risks in wet or oily working environments: (more…)

Wet Floor Signs: Tips & Regulations

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This entry is part 1 of 11 in the series Slips, Trips & Falls

Wet floor signs are used to notify and/or remind people of slip and fall hazards in the immediate area.  These hazards include the presence of liquid or other slippery substance on the walking surface as a result of routine cleaning, accidental spills, product leaks, or presence of inclement weather conditions. Proper use of wet floor signs clearly communicates the hazard, and reduces the potential for slips and falls.

Careful consideration of the following five issues can increase the effectiveness of wet floor signage: (more…)

A Slippery Situation: Cleaning Restaurant Kitchen Floors

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This entry is part 6 of 11 in the series Slips, Trips & Falls

One of the most significant areas of loss in the restaurant environment is slips and falls. The commercial kitchen environment presents special challenges and requires special care to provide a safe working surface. The methods used to clean the kitchen floor are very important, but many times sufficient consideration is not given to the chemicals used in the cleaning process. Properly controlling the grease on kitchen floors is critical for maintaining a safe kitchen, but also keeps it from being tracked into public areas where customers could be impacted. (more…)

Taking Control of Slip and Fall Risks

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This entry is part 5 of 11 in the series Slips, Trips & Falls

Have you ever slipped, tripped or fallen? Perhaps you have watched a television show where a slip, trip and fall was the punch line for a joke. Slips, trips and falls are no joke, however, and rank among the most frequent types of accidents, second only to motor-vehicle accidents as a cause of death. According to recent information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, they are second in the number of disabling injuries in occupations, accounting for nearly 25 percent of all disabling injuries.
(more…)

Slip and Fall Claims from a Liability Perspective

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This entry is part 4 of 11 in the series Slips, Trips & Falls

Did you know the largest single claim type, in terms of frequency and overall claim cost to Society Insurance insureds, is the slip/trip and fall claim? In 2014 alone this type of loss was close to 50% for both liability claims received and liability payments. How do you tackle such a giant loss leader you ask?  I think of it this way; the best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. Let’s break this down, one bite at a time. (more…)