Slips and falls cost American businesses a fortune in lost productivity, workers' compensation insurance, and other expenses. The psychological damage in pain, anguish, and the loss of worker morale are beyond measure. With this notorious record, slips and falls have to be considered the number one enemy of work place safety. Because slips and falls are so common, they are often thought to be inevitable - a cost of doing business. Sometimes they are dismissed as unpredictable accidents visited upon clumsy people.
Little thought is given to prevention.
These attitudes need to be changed. The fact is that slips and falls are among the easiest accidents to isolate and prevent. After all, each of us takes thousands of steps every day without mishap. Slips and falls are not normal. They result from an abnormality in the environment that suddenly makes a routine act dangerous.