Slips, trips, and falls are one of the most common causes of workplace injuries in manufacturing. They are usually not complex hazards, but they show up everywhere and get overlooked.
If employees are walking and working in your facility, this applies.1
Any workplace where employees walk, work, or move materials.
That includes machine shops, warehouses, fabrication facilities, and production floors. Wet areas, cluttered walkways, and uneven surfaces all increase risk.
This applies to nearly every shop.
Everyone.
Operators, maintenance, supervisors, office staff entering production areas, and even visitors. Slips and trips are not task-specific hazards. They affect anyone moving through the facility.
Before exposure to the hazard.
That usually means during onboarding, with periodic refreshers as conditions change. New equipment, layout changes, seasonal conditions, and housekeeping issues can all introduce new risks.
Slips, trips, and falls are mostly about conditions and awareness.
Training should cover:
Most of these hazards are visible. The challenge is consistency.2
Most issues come down to small things being ignored.
Typical gaps include:
As one safety professional put it, “Housekeeping leads to so many major issues I cannot even begin to explain… serious injuries come back to basic housekeeping.”
Even small debris can cause problems. One worker described stepping on a short piece of pipe that rolled underfoot, causing a sudden slip that could easily have led to a serious injury.3
Do not over-complicate it.
Keep walkways clear. Clean up spills immediately. Make expectations obvious and consistent across the shop. Reinforce it regularly, especially in high-traffic areas.
In practice, OSHA is looking for three things:
Common documentation includes inspection checklists, housekeeping procedures, and training records.
Tip: Use MakerComply’s Free Employee Training Tracker to keep slip, trip, and fall training organized instead of buried in spreadsheets when audit time comes.
Slips, trips, and falls are not complicated, but they are constant. The difference comes down to how consistently the basics are followed.
This cheat sheet is meant to be an overview and does not take the place of full regulatory compliance guidance. Consult OSHA standards for walking-working surfaces and fall protection for more detail.
https://www.osha.gov/fall-protection
https://oshatraining.com/wp-content/uploads/Fall_Prevention_-_Stats_About_Slips_Trips__Falls.pdf
Slips, trips, and falls are one of the most common causes of workplace injuries in manufacturing. They are usually not complex hazards, but they show up everywhere and get overlooked.
If employees are walking and working in your facility, this applies.1
Any workplace where employees walk, work, or move materials.
That includes machine shops, warehouses, fabrication facilities, and production floors. Wet areas, cluttered walkways, and uneven surfaces all increase risk.
This applies to nearly every shop.
Everyone.
Operators, maintenance, supervisors, office staff entering production areas, and even visitors. Slips and trips are not task-specific hazards. They affect anyone moving through the facility.
Before exposure to the hazard.
That usually means during onboarding, with periodic refreshers as conditions change. New equipment, layout changes, seasonal conditions, and housekeeping issues can all introduce new risks.
Slips, trips, and falls are mostly about conditions and awareness.
Training should cover:
Most of these hazards are visible. The challenge is consistency.2
Most issues come down to small things being ignored.
Typical gaps include:
As one safety professional put it, “Housekeeping leads to so many major issues I cannot even begin to explain… serious injuries come back to basic housekeeping.”
Even small debris can cause problems. One worker described stepping on a short piece of pipe that rolled underfoot, causing a sudden slip that could easily have led to a serious injury.3
Do not over-complicate it.
Keep walkways clear. Clean up spills immediately. Make expectations obvious and consistent across the shop. Reinforce it regularly, especially in high-traffic areas.
In practice, OSHA is looking for three things:
Common documentation includes inspection checklists, housekeeping procedures, and training records.
Tip: Use MakerComply’s Free Employee Training Tracker to keep slip, trip, and fall training organized instead of buried in spreadsheets when audit time comes.
Slips, trips, and falls are not complicated, but they are constant. The difference comes down to how consistently the basics are followed.
This cheat sheet is meant to be an overview and does not take the place of full regulatory compliance guidance. Consult OSHA standards for walking-working surfaces and fall protection for more detail.
https://www.osha.gov/fall-protection
https://oshatraining.com/wp-content/uploads/Fall_Prevention_-_Stats_About_Slips_Trips__Falls.pdf
