Earlier this week, The Co-op were fined £400,000 after pleading guilty to a Health and Safety offence, which resulted in the death of 74 year-old Stanley May in July 2015. May had been visiting the Supermarket's Truro branch, where a faulty chiller was leaking for 44 hours, causing the pensioner to fall and sustain a head injury which led to his death.
Although this example is one of many health and safety prosecutions to be made in recent weeks, this case is all the more tragic and concerning due to it's highly preventable nature. In all public spaces and work areas, it is important to remember that slips, trips and falls are one of the most common hazards to impact both employees and members of the public. It seems that due to the domestic nature of these incidents, their seriousness is often underestimated by organisations, causing health and safety standards to fall below the required level and allowing incidents to occur.
This case demonstrates that slips, trips and falls can be fatal to those who are put at risk, which highlights the vital need to maintain and execute health and safety measures which prevent these incidents. This can be done by correctly following a set of simple but effective health and safety measures, including the following:
- Training & Communication - Staff should be kept well informed of health and safety measures, and should always communicate the need for action when additional measures are needed to maintain standards.
- Maintenance of Equipment - A contributing factor in this case was the faulty store equipment, which had been unsuccessfully fixed and left to cause the hazard which led to Mr May's death. It is vital that all equipment is efficiently maintained and inspected to prevent such hazards, and effectively dealt when a potential risk is detected.
- Clear Warnings - Although a wet floor sign had been placed near the leaking chiller, the effected area extended beyond this point, rendering the warning ineffective. In addition to using the proper safety signage, more steps should be taken when to deal with the issue, including restricting access to the area completely if the hazard cannot be controlled with visual warnings alone.
For more health and safety advice and updates, follow us on Twitter.
