Are you winter ready? Mats – a first line of defence

The winter season starts this year on December 22^nd and the harsh winter weather, with the prospect of snow and ice, is fast approaching. The weather forecasters are predicting a tough one this year too. People trailing snow and ice indoors, with wet shoes, puddles of melted water and grit, adds a whole new area of risk in the workplace, supermarkets, leisure facilities and anywhere where there is a high footfall.

In fact, 37 per cent of all reported workplace injuries were as a result of a slip, trip or fall, with 28 per cent of all fatalities in the workplace being caused by a related incident. On average, approximately 50 people die each year from a slip, trip or fall and many more are injured –some critically.

Especially in winter, it is important for businesses to remember their Duty of Care to protect their employees and visitors from slips, trips and falls while on their premises. Unsafe floor conditions and lack of awareness of risks and hazards are key factors that can lead to slip, trip and fall accidents. Failure to protect people from ice and snow hazards and a failure to provide slip resistance on walking surfaces means that slips, trips and falls are more likely to occur in the winter months. Ineffective floor strategies can be costly for companies.

Slips, trips and falls are the second leading cause of injury in the UK, and many of these accidents cause staff to be absent from work for seven days or more. As well as absenteeism, if anyone suffers an injury as a result of a slip, trip or fall, and a company is found to be negligent of not having taken all reasonable precautions to prevent this, there is a high risk of loss of reputation and costly legal claims. The internet is full of accident compensation claims companies supporting negligence claims of anything from £1k to £100k for such incidents of negligence.

Placing high quality mats correctly, and having these regularly cleaned, is a first line of defence for helping to keep people safe and for reducing the wear and tear on your building:

• The risk of slips from wet floors can be reduced by placing an absorbent floor mat in winter to soak up melting snow
• salt, grit and deicing fluids are hard on floors, from concrete to carpet, and can cause unsightly stains and pitting over time. A mat is an easy and cost-effective way of protecting expensive flooring
• slushy pavements and roads often result in mess being tracked through the building. An absorbent mat helps to remove dirt and moisture from the bottom of people’s feet before it is tracked inside

Johnsons Workwear can provide a range of customised mats that are collected, cleaned, delivered and placed by our team of trained serviced drivers. This not only helps to protect your building and your visitors and staff, it helps you to look the part too. We offer a range of customised dust mats which can also include personalised messages and images in a range of colours, creating a great first impression with your visitors.