Slips, Trips and Falls Toolbox Talk

The biggest cause of injury on site is also the most ignored

Nobody plans for this one. It is the offcut nobody picked up, the lead run across a walkway, the mud walked onto a smooth slab.

HSE’s provisional figures for 2024/25 show that 30 per cent of all reported non-fatal workplace injuries were slips, trips or falls on the same level, around 17,800 employees in a single year. Falls from height accounted for 8 per cent. Same-level falls injure nearly four times as many people as the hazard everyone worries about.

Same level does not mean minor

On a building site there is rarely a soft landing. A trip puts you into rebar, a kerb, a scaffold fitting or an open riser, often with both hands full and nothing to grab. Wrists, shoulders, hips and heads are the usual result, and a broken wrist is six weeks off the tools.

What the law requires

There is no single slips and trips regulation. The duties come from general workplace law plus CDM, and together they are more demanding than most people assume. The test is not whether the site is tidy on inspection day, but whether it is kept in good order every day.

• Floors and traffic routes must be suitable, in good condition, and free from obstructions and from anything likely to cause a slip or trip. Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, reg. 12.
• Good order. Every part of a construction site must be kept in good order and in a reasonable state of cleanliness. CDM 2015, reg. 18.
• Safe places of work. Places of work must be made and kept safe, with safe access to and egress from them. CDM 2015, reg. 17.
• Routes and lighting. Traffic routes must be suitable and sufficient, and every site must have suitable and sufficient lighting. CDM 2015, regs. 27 and 35.

Design out, keep clear, light and mark

1. Design out. Level surfaces, planned walkways, drainage and cable routes decided before work starts.
2. Keep clear. Clear as you go. Waste in the skip, spills dealt with now, leads never left across a route.
3. Light and mark. Lighting on every route and stair, and every hole covered, secured and marked.

Source: HSE, Preventing slips and trips at work (INDG225); Workplace Regulations 1992 reg. 12; CDM 2015 regs. 17, 18, 27 and 35.

How people get hurt on site

• Untidy work areas. Offcuts, banding, packaging, empty pallets and fixings left where people walk. This is the single biggest cause on most sites.
• Trailing leads and hoses. Extension leads, airlines and vacuum hoses run at ankle height across a walkway, often just for one job.
• Mud, water and dust. Carried in on boots and tyres onto smooth slab, tiles or plywood, where it behaves like grease.
• Uneven and changing ground. Ruts, kerbs, thresholds, part-built stairs without nosings, and the step you only notice once.
• Ice, frost and standing water. The first frost of the season catches sites out every year, and shaded corners stay icy all day.
• Bad lighting. Stairwells, risers, basements, and temporary lighting that has been unplugged so somebody could run a tool.
• Uncovered holes and channels. Service voids, drainage channels and floor openings where a cover has been lifted and not replaced.
• Wet trades. Screeding, resin, concrete washings and paint, and the overspray nobody cleaned up.
• Carrying loads that block your view. You cannot avoid what you cannot see, and both hands are full.
• Worn or wrong footwear. Smooth soles, worn tread, and trainers on a site that needs a proper boot.
• Rushing and shortcuts. Cutting across a work area rather than using the walkway, usually near the end of a shift.

Controls to brief your crew on

• Use the designated walkways and keep them level, lit and clear. If the route has stopped making sense, say so rather than walking round it.
• Clear as you go. Waste goes in the skip as it is created, not at the end of the day and not into a corner.
• Get leads off the floor. Run them at height, in a ramp, or reroute the job.
• Stop mud at the threshold. Boot cleaners and matting at entrances, and a sweeper or wheel wash where vehicles bring it in.
• Cover, secure and mark every hole. If you lift a cover you own it.
• Deal with spills now. Not later, not by walking round them. Wet trades keep a spill kit with them.
• Light the route. Check temporary lighting before the shift and report anything unplugged, smashed or missing.
• Wear boots with tread that is still there. Slip-resistant soles, checked regularly and replaced when worn smooth.
• Do not carry what blocks your view. Split the load, use a barrow, or get a second pair of hands.
• Plan for winter. Grit routes before the frost, not after, and allow for shorter daylight hours.
• Report it, and move it if you safely can. The trip hazard you walk past is the one that gets the next person.

Source: HSE, Slips and trips; HSE, INDG225.

Who is competent to do this work

• Everyone is competent to spot a trip hazard, which is why this one is everybody’s job rather than a specialist’s. The induction covers the routes, the rules and how to report.
• Supervisors walk the routes daily and are expected to have things moved rather than noted.
• Whoever inspects the site needs to know what to look for: lighting, coverings, walkway condition, housekeeping at the workface.
• Cleaning and waste contractors get the same briefing as everybody else, including where routes run and when the site is busy.

Paperwork that should be in place

• Risk assessment covering access, egress and housekeeping, not just the high-risk trades.
• Site rules and induction records showing the walkways and reporting route were briefed.
• Site inspection records covering walkway condition, lighting and coverings, with actions closed out.
• Temporary lighting checks, and a record of faults reported and fixed.
• Accident and near-miss records, including the slips and trips that did not injure anyone.
• Adverse weather plan covering gritting, standing water and reduced daylight.

Five questions to get the crew talking

1. Where on this site would you rather not walk in the dark?
2. What is the worst trip hazard you have walked past today and not moved?
3. Which routes get muddy or icy first, and who grits them?
4. Is there a hole, void or channel here that is not properly covered right now?
5. Has anyone slipped or tripped this week and not reported it? Why not?

How to run this toolbox talk

1. Read it first and add your site-specific detail.
2. Pick the moment. Start of shift, at the workface, ten minutes maximum.
3. Walk it if you can. This is the one talk that works better standing on the route you are discussing.
4. Write down what came up. Notes and actions are on page 3 of the PDF.
5. Record who attended on the free toolbox talk sign-in sheet.
6. Close the actions out.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a slip and a trip?

A slip is loss of grip between the footwear and the floor, usually from contamination such as water, mud, dust or ice. A trip is contact with an obstacle or a change in level. They need different controls, which is why it is worth separating them when you assess a site.

Is there a legal requirement to keep a construction site tidy?

Yes. Regulation 18 of CDM 2015 requires every part of a construction site to be kept in good order and in a reasonable state of cleanliness. Regulation 12 of the Workplace Regulations 1992 requires floors and traffic routes to be free from obstruction.

What footwear should be worn on a construction site?

Safety footwear appropriate to the site risks, with slip-resistant soles and tread that has not worn smooth. Footwear is a control of last resort: it does not fix a contaminated or obstructed floor, it just makes it slightly less likely to catch you out.

Who is responsible for housekeeping on site?

Everyone creating waste is responsible for clearing it, and the principal contractor is responsible for the site being in good order overall. In practice the culture is set by whether supervisors walk past things or deal with them.

Do slips and trips have to be reported under RIDDOR?

Only if they meet the reporting criteria: a specified injury such as a fracture, or an over-seven-day absence from normal work. Many slips and trips fall below that threshold, which is exactly why near-miss reporting matters for this hazard.