Slip and fall often happen to moving individuals either indoor or outdoors. It happens outdoor in many cases. An instance is when walking on an icy sidewalk. Or when walking on a wet and slippery road. Or stepping on a banana peeling on the street.
A slight slip may only cause embarrassment but a slip — especially one that sends your back falling flat on the ground — can cause a serious brain injury.
Statistics show that the leading causes of brain injury are slip and fall. A high percentage of brain injuries, approximately 35 percent, is caused by falls. Thousands of traumatic brain injury patients die from falls each year.
At Home
A common kind of slip and fall happens in the household. The most accident-prone are the elderly and children.
Most household slip and fall accidents happen in the bathroom and particularly in bathtubs. Loose rugs near doorways have also caused a lot of slip and fall accidents. The staircase is where old people and children can slip and fall. Watery indoor floors such as in the kitchen can cause slip injury to anyone. Uneven surfaces can also make someone lose his step and eventually slip. Grease on indoor floors as well as loose carpets can also be a source of a fall accident.
Public Places
Slip and fall may also happen in malls and workplaces as well in worship areas.
The conditions that may cause a accidents in public places are newly waxed or mopped flooring. Shiny floors may be neat to look at but sometimes people tend to cross by recently mopped and waxed surfaces due to the absence of warning signs that these surfaces are slippery.
A mall is also a place where beverages and drinking water are frequently spilled. Some spills may not be wiped at once and may be left unnoticed. A number of people walking in malls may not be aware of such floor conditions.
When on the stairs in the public area, caution must be exercised . Children playing at will and rushing up and down the stairs can have accidents.
Stairs without a handrail will not be good for elderly people. Serious brain injury can happen to them.
Workplace
Slips and fall are common too in the kitchen area of a restaurant or a hotel.
These places usually have shiny and slippery floors due to presence of wet materials and powdery products used in the kitchen. Cooking oil, soy sauce, vinegar, flour, baking soda, or curry powder can all be easily scattered due to the rapid phase of work within the cooking area. Chefs and cooks usually do not wear protection for slips and falls since this will just be obstruct their work.
A slip in a kitchen can result to hitting the head in a cooking platform. a table,or an oven which can lead to serious brain injury.
The kitchen manager must not only monitor the quality of food cooked or delivered timely. He must always check that the working area is a safe place against any accidents.
Prevention
The best way to prevent slip and fall especially when in public places is to be aware of your surroundings. It may help to gaze once in a while downward to check on the condition of flooring when in shopping centers.
Awareness of the surroundings must be doubled when walking along the roads and sidewalks. These places are not properly maintained and constantly have wet areas where slip and falls can occur. They are usually not lighted well. This can be a major reason why people may not notice obstructions, uneven surfaces and wet areas.
Adults at home must make sure that floor surfaces are smooth and free of clutters. There must always be a mop around to immediately wipe any spills or water on the floor to avoid brain injury-related accidents.
Adults must always ensure that places like bathtubs, kitchen and stairs have proper handrails where the elderly and children can hold on.
The garage and kitchen flooring should always be kept dry especially during winter or rainy seasons.
In case the household is celebrating a party or a special event, there must be a person assigned to check all the time if the flooring are dry and safe to prevent accidents and allow everyone to enjoy the occasion.
Accidents like slip and fall can cause traumatic brain injury to a person of any age. But caution must be the prime concern especially with the children and the elderly.