Posted By David Brede Even on transient sites the basic rules still apply. Site tidiness and identification of slip, trip and fall hazards with a view to eliminating them by positive action of remving them or barriering them off. If this is not possible clear identification using spray cans or similar. Also briefing the operatives of the site hazards applies to the transient railway sites operated by my company.

Posted By Peter J Harvey Nick, This is highlighted as one of our major accident areas next to handling injuries. You are correct that this is a difficult one to approach and there I feel no straightforward answers. We are trying to tackle this in a number of ways. 1. Awareness plays an important part and I am positive that as a safety culture develops and improves so will the general awareness to slip/trip/fall. 2. We are involved with employees going into tenanted property and before they visit we warn clients that they should clear the working area. Otherwise staff will be required to ensure they have a clear working area or not work. 3. All slip/trip/fall accidents are investigated in detail and looked at in turn by our accident group. 4. Manual handling awareness training emphasis the need to plan, prepare, perform - in the plan stage the area of work is considered. 5. Talking to people about common causes (I was not looking, the floor was wet, I did not see the need, It just happened?) makes them think more. All basic stuff really, but I am hoping its works, we achieved a 27% accident reduction rate last year through awareness and training in the main, I hope this years might be the same. Any other ideas would be most welcome. Pete H

Posted By Nick Higginson Gents, Thanks for your responses. There are no "contracts". We maintain the distribution system. Where there is a fault, we dig up the road or go to an individuals property, be that private or business. We are trying to raise awareness, the planning the route aspect of manual handling is currently being delivered in training. We are considering some behavioural safety aspects in next years action plan, as well as using the CLimate survey tool. It is frustrating, you bash on about this time and time again, do training, raise awareness, and someone goes and trips up a gutter and is off for a few days. What can you do? Nick

Posted By Nick Higginson David, I'm afraid that pre-start visits are not an option! We have staff who respond to fault situations and get people's electricity back on. This may mean going ANYWHERE in the Midlands where there are underground cables or overhead lines. We have huge pressures to bring down customer minutes lost, so it is not possible to cost in presite preparation. Nick

Posted By Jay Joshi In such a situation, the degree of training of personnel who undertake these tasks and the equipment--whether PPE, tools etc is of paramount importance so that they have the competence to undertake these tasks safely--obviously you do not have control of the environment/site in term of making it safe. Is there any in depth analysis of the causes of these slips, trips & falls --and is it reasonably practicable to address factors other then the environment. The type of footwear, lighting conditions, communication with the tenant are factors. Even then, a balance has to be struck between operational requirements of meeting time targets and safety. I feel most organisations have now moved away from the era when time & motion studies were undertaken to establish optimum times. What is required is costing of these accidents --it may persuade some, but not all.

Posted By Robert Woods Has there been any dialogue with the people carrying out the work other than you giving them training? I have found that some of the most innovative ideas come from the people with most knowledge of what actually happens on site, the people doing the work. If the workers ideas become part of the safe system of work they then feel empowered by having a say in how the work is carried out. If workers feel the safety ideas are theirs then they are more likely to abide by them which exerts pressure for others to do likewise. With obvious H&S benifts. Robert Woods.

Posted By Zyggy Turek Nick, I spent 14 years in H&S within the Gas industry which had similar problems to yourselves..Like you, we discussed similar statistics at H&S Committees & tried to raise awareness at "tool box talks" - without any great success. We then decided to re-examine the footwear that was being issued to try & ascertain if indeed this might be part of the problem - or indeed solution. Together with the TU H&S Reps I approached various suppliers of footwear & challenged them to provide us footwear that would meet our specifications. Following extensive field trials of various combinations & involving the workforce, a decision was jointly made to go for a specific design. The upshot was that the number of incidents declined for what I believe were two reasons. Firstly, we got better footwear, more suited to the work activities, and secondly, because we involved the workforce they became more aware of issues surrounding slips, trips & falls. In the final analysis you will never erradicate these types of accidents due to the nature of your varied work locations, but the above experience may assist you in your goal - good luck! Zyggy.

Posted By Jan Moore Nick, I was about to write a response but looked through what you had already received. I am in total agreement with Rob Woods. I'v e just had similar talks with mobile school caretakers,whose job is to work at schools when the resident caretaker has time off. These blokes are new to a site, and appear to have similar problems to the ones your staff are experiencing. The only difference being that at least we are able to ask what particular hazards there are at a particular school. I have found by talking to the staff and discussing how we can improve the situation together, there was an immediate feeling that 'at least someone is interested' and this has improved morale and daft as it sounds, improved the accident incidence rate. Good luck. Jan

Posted By Jerry Tucker As I'm a trainer for a county council' direct labour force I appriciate your problems.As Jay Joshi says you should look at the fundemental root causes of this problem. There could be numerous reasons for their trip & slips. Do your own analisis of what actually caused them,i.e. faulty work from a previous utillity operator.(THE NEW ROADS AND STREET WORKS ACT 1991)Or have the owners of the property porley maintained access etc.. The local council may be able to help with its satistics on 'CATORGRY 1 DEFECTS'i.e how many trips they were notified too any how long it took the to repair them. Good luck Jery Tucker