The Cost of Slip & Falls

Every fall has the potential for producing a serious injury, including the possibility of death. Depending on how the victim goes down, this category of incident is what is known among safety engineers as a “high potential” loss type. Not all types of hazards lead to equally serious consequences. Because falls are such a problem in virtually every industry, public area and residence, they have been selected for the primary attention of accident prevention professionals.

In addition to direct liability payouts, slip and fall losses are further realized as needless increases in insurance premiums, as well as in hidden costs, such as lost productivity, increased administrative activity, and potential negative publicity within the community. The new worry in today's real-time world is when it will show up on social media. All of these costs negatively impact an organization's bottom line, yet they are preventable. Eliminating losses due to slip and fall accidents can contribute significantly to profits without requiring an increase in sales.

Slip resistance is affected by floor material and finish, pedestrian shoe bottom material and texture, environmental surface contaminants and pedestrian gait dynamics. How the pedestrian performs his behavioral dynamics may be beyond one’s control and sometimes shoe characteristics are relatively uncontrollable. However, floor construction and maintenance relative to surface condition and contamination are almost always controllable, therefore, providing the greatest opportunities for responsible parties to affect slip resistance under foot.  

The vast majority of slip and falls result from wet or otherwise lubricated surfaces. The property of a floor that makes it slip resistant in the presence of a lubricating contaminant, such as water or oil, is its surface roughness. That is, the surface roughness must be tall enough and sharp enough to extend upward through the lubricating film sufficiently to engage the shoe bottom in a manner not unlike sandpaper.

If a walking surface is found to be excessively slippery, either through accident experience or by measuring both the Static Coefficient of Friction (SCOF) as well as Dynamic Coefficient of Friction (DCOF), consideration should be given to replacing the smooth surface with one that is sufficiently rougher to make it safer in the normal environment.

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