Factories are generally hazardous places. With heavy plant, equipment, and machinery in constant operation, health and safety is of paramount importance in factories and those in charge have a number of duties to ensure that employees are not injured in the line of duty.
Whilst most accidents probably involve equipment, slipping on wet floors are common in factories as they are in any other workplaces. Leaks from machinery, whether its oil or water, is an obvious one. People could walk grease and oil around the floor if it sticks to their boots as well. Having boots to try and prevent as much as possible a slipping accident is a point in itself.
Let’s take a look at the law that’s relevant:
The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992
This specifically addresses the issue of ensuring that the floor in any workplace is not slippery as to cause an accident. The applicable regulations are:
12.(1) 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.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (1), the requirements in that paragraph shall include requirements that–
(a) the floor, or surface of the traffic route, shall have no hole or slope, or be uneven or slippery so as, in each case, to expose any person to a risk to his health or safety; and
(b) every such floor shall have effective means of drainage where necessary.
The latter part (b) is a point in itself if the floor is likely to become wet given the nature of the industry. As such, effective drainage should be in place to limit as much as possible the likelihood of the floor becoming slippery.
The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 (PPE)
On the other point mentioned earlier, if the floor is likely to be wet, proper footwear should be provided and maintained by the employer to limit as much as possible the likelihood of a slip accident. The applicable part reads as follows:
4.(1) Every employer shall ensure that suitable personal protective equipment is provided to his employees who may be exposed to a risk to their health or safety while at work except where and to the extent that such risk has been adequately controlled by other means which are equally or more effective.
Legislation: www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi
The above, which is rather self explanatory, puts the duty on your employer to provide PPE where applicable.
Making a Claim
If your employer breaches health and safety regulation by failing to adhere to the above, you may have a successful claim for personal injury compensation. We can offer you a 100% compensation agreement for work accident claims, even though other law firms will deduct up to 25% due to recent legislation reforms.
