Slips and Trips: Introduction

Overview – Slips, Trips and Falls in the Workplace

Slips, trips and falls in the workplace can seriously affect the health and wellbeing of workers, as well as a company’s overall productivity should key members of staff need time off as a result of these incidents.

In fact, Health and Safety Executive workplace slips, trips and falls statistics show that 1.5 million working days were lost due to these incidents from 2014-15. During this time, some 59 per cent of workplace injuries were attributed to slips, trips and falls.

What’s more, if it comes to light that an employer could have prevented a fall-related injury, they could find themselves facing a costly lawsuit, bad publicity and potentially irreversible reputational damage.

It is therefore vital that both employers and employees know how to recognise potential slip, trip and fall hazards in their workplace, as well as how to make their working environment safer, which is exactly what the Virtual College Slips, Trips and Falls in the Workplace e-learning course covers.

This course was previously known as An Introduction to Slips, Trips and Falls in the Workplace.

What does this course cover?

Slips, Trips and Falls in the Workplace looks at employers’ legal obligations in line with the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulation 1999, and the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992.

It also focuses on the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences 2013 (also known as RIDDOR) and the Work at Height Regulations 2005.

After completing the course, learners will:

• Know why it is important to prevent slips, trips and falls in the workplace
• Understand what can cause slips, trips and falls from a height
• Be familiar with legislation relating to slips, trips and falls
• Understand the role of risk assessment in preventing workplace slips, trips and falls
• Know what can be done to prevent slips, trips and falls
• Be aware of your role in preventing slips, trips and falls

Course lesson plan

The lesson plan for this course will be as follows:

• Introduction
• Learning
• How serious is the problem?
• Key legislation
• Hazards
• Responsibilities
• What is a risk assessment?
• Risk assessment steps
• Control measures – slips
• Control measures – trips
• Control measures – working at height

Who is this course for?

This digital learning course is suitable for workers and managers across all sectors, as every workplace has its own hazards that could put staff at risk of slips, trips and falls.

As it is self-paced and the Virtual College Learning Management System tracks learners’ progress as they study for the module, people can easily fit the course in around their other responsibilities at work.

Course accreditation

The content of this course has been independently certified as conforming to universally accepted Continuous Professional Development (CPD) guidelines.

Certification

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to download and print a Virtual College certificate for your records.

Course duration

An Introduction to Slips, Trips and Falls in the Workplace should take around an hour to complete. There are 44 interactive screens for learners to work through, but the course is self-paced, so the overall duration depends on each individual’s learning speed.

Entry Requirements

There are no specific entry requirements for this course.