Slips and trips are one of the leading causes of injury in the workplace and at home. Add winter conditions to the mix, and the chances of you making an ungraceful landing on your behind increase tremendously.
Safety engineers will tell you that slips and trips occur due to a loss of traction between the shoe and the walking surface, or contact with a fixed or moveable object which may lead to a fall. In other words, you slip when you lose your balance somehow or you hit something that’s in the way with your foot and you trip over it.
It’s important to think about fall prevention before winter becomes even colder. Protect yourself from trips and slips with these winter safety tips:
1. Look Before You Step
The best way to keep from falling is to watch where you are stepping. If that wet patch up ahead looks like it might be ice, avoid it. It’s also important to look ahead at what you might be walking into. Move slowly and look at your surroundings. Find the path of least resistance, or in this case, the least snow-covered ice.
2. Wear the Right Shoes
Even if you are required to wear dress shoes to work, high heels and ice don’t mix. Wear boots with rough or textured soles to trek through the snow and ice. These boots will give you much more traction than any dress shoe. While changing into and out of different shoes might seem like a hassle, it’s much more important to protect yourself from falling.
3. Use Handrails
Whether you’re inside or outside, handrails are available to you for a reason. They obviously work. Whenever a railing is available to you, use it. Railings have been proven to keep people upright when they begin to slip. If you are concerned about touching handrails inside a building because of the germs that might be on them from other people, wash your hands, or carry a hand sanitizer with you to apply after you reach your office, or wherever you are going.
4. Watch the Floors
Even after you have made it inside, watch out for places that other people have walked. Snow and ice from other people’s shoes will most likely have melted. Mix that in with tile or linoleum, and you have a recipe for disaster. Watch where you are walking for your first few steps inside to avoid these potential slipping hazards.
5. Relax
Tensing up when you fall can actually cause you to injure yourself more. While it sounds impossible, relaxing and keeping yourself from fighting the fall can prevent serious injuries from happening. If you are falling forward, try to roll with the fall. If you are falling backward, attempt to sit down on your bottom.
And when walking out in the wintry conditions we remind you to do the “penguin walk”:
• Bend slightly and walk flat footed
• Point your feet out slightly like a penguin
• Keep your centre of gravity over your feet as much as possible
• Watch where you are stepping
• Take shorter, shuffle-like steps
• Keep your arms at your sides (not in your pockets!)
• Concentrate on keeping your balance • Go slowly.
