Regulation 12.—(1) states that “Every floor in a workplace and the surface of every traffic route in a workplace shall be of a construction such that the floor or surface of the traffic route is suitable for the purpose for which it is used.” Stairs at work fall within the category of traffic routes – and given that falling down a set of stairs can cause serious injury as you may be falling from a height, the regulations are even more important to abide by.
Slips on Stairs
A slip will normally be caused due to a spillage of some nature, or perhaps a leak, or perhaps from a colleague or hired cleaner mopping the stairs. For your employer to abide by the regulations above, slipping hazards need to be prevented as much as possible – so when it comes to spillages, a system of inspection and maintenance should be used to identify any hazards and rectify them immediately. If your employer fails to have such a system, they may be liable for compensation.
If the slip was caused by mopping and there were no wet floor signs or cordons to warn of the hazard, then regulations have, in essence, been breached. In this kind of scenario, you may be entitled to make a full claim against your employer.
If it is a leak that has caused a slipping hazard, the duty comes down to knowledge of the leak. If the leak literally started within hours of your accident, and your employer has a good system of inspection and maintenance, they could defend the claim. But if at any point they are made aware of the leak, they are put on notice. If they fail to act on this information, they are breaching the regulations.
Trips on Stairs
In the same way I have with slips, let’s take a couple of scenarios and discuss how the regulations apply.
If you trip because of a defect on the stairs then this again can come down to knowledge and inspection regimes that your employer may have. You would think that a defect, like a wobbly step or a raise in the steps, could be spotted and rectified fairly quickly. But again, if your employer fails to act on knowledge that there is a hazard, they are breaching the regulations.
If a colleague leaves something on the steps when they shouldn’t have, can you clam for the fact that your colleague has been negligent? There is a term called vicarious liability, which in principle means that your employer is liable for the negligent actions of someone in their employ. So the mistake of your colleague can be claimed as part of a case against your employer.
Handrails
A final thing to look at is handrails. There is an onus on your employer to make sure that the stairs are safer to use in general, and having a handrail is one way of making steps safer to use. If there isn’t a handrail and you trip, and a handrail could have saved you from falling and sustaining an injury, there may be a claim to answer for.
Your employer has a legal responsibility to have a policy of employer’s liability insurance to cover them for claims – so you have nothing to fear when looking to claim from your employer. Give us a call on 0800 634 75 75 today and we will look to assess your claim over the phone.