Slips, Trips & Falls Prevention template
A slips, trips and falls prevention procedure is the written routine {{org.name}} follows to keep floors, walkways, and stairs safe — the daily checks, the spill response, and the standing rules on flooring, footwear, lighting, and housekeeping that stop same-level falls before they happen. It covers staff areas and, just as importantly, the areas customers and visitors walk through.
Slips and trips are among the most common causes of workplace injury in the UK, and they are also the most preventable: nearly every incident traces back to something mundane — a spill left "for a minute", a trailing cable, a mat with a curled edge, a dim stairwell. A written routine works because it removes the judgement call about whose job the puddle is.
This template gives you a complete, ready-to-edit procedure: the common hazards to control, daily walkthrough checks, an immediate spill response, standing arrangements for flooring and lighting, and the reporting that catches patterns early.
Full text, ready to adapt.
Highlighted fields are placeholders — replace them with your organisation's specifics. A starting point, not legal advice.
Slips, Trips & Falls Prevention
SOP · Health & Safety
1. Purpose and scope
This procedure sets out how {{org.name}} prevents slips, trips, and falls on the same level at [site name]. It covers all internal areas, entrances, external walkways and car parks, and stairs, and it protects staff, customers, visitors, and contractors alike.
Falls from height (ladders, platforms, roofs) are covered separately by our working at height procedure.
2. When to use this procedure
- Daily: the walkthrough checks below, built into opening and shift-change routines.
- Immediately: whenever a spill, leak, breakage, or obstruction is found — by anyone, in any role.
- Seasonally: before and during wet or icy weather, and whenever entrance conditions change.
- After any slip, trip, or fall — including near-misses and customer incidents — to fix the cause, not just the symptom.
3. Roles and responsibilities
- [Name/role] owns this procedure, the walkthrough checklist, and the fix-it log.
- Duty managers: complete or delegate the daily checks, action hazards found, and close out reported items within [timescale].
- All staff: deal with or guard any spill or obstruction they find immediately — "see it, sort it, or stand by it" — and report hazards they cannot fix to [role].
- Cleaning staff/contractors: follow the wet-cleaning arrangements below, including signage and timing rules.
4. Common hazards we control
- Liquids on floors: spills, leaks from equipment, rain walked in at entrances, cleaning left wet.
- Trip hazards: trailing cables, stock left in walkways, deliveries staged in corridors, uneven or damaged flooring, curled mat edges.
- Level changes: single steps, ramps, and thresholds — especially those customers do not expect.
- Poor lighting: failed bulbs on stairs and in corridors, glare at transitions from bright to dim areas.
- Footwear: unsuitable soles for the floor type in [kitchen/wet/production] areas.
5. Daily walkthrough checks
- 1Walk the full route — all floors, stairs, entrances, and external walkways — at [time(s), e.g. opening and shift change], using the checklist at [location/system].
- 2Check floors for wet patches, damage, lifting edges, and worn anti-slip surfaces; check mats lie flat.
- 3Check walkways and fire exits are clear of stock, deliveries, cables, and props.
- 4Check lighting on stairs, corridors, and entrances; log failed bulbs for same-day replacement.
- 5Check entrance arrangements in wet weather: mats in place, wet-floor signage available, umbrella stands/bag arrangements at [location].
- 6Fix what can be fixed on the spot; log anything else in the fix-it log with an owner and a date, and guard or sign the hazard until it is resolved.
6. Spill response
- 1Whoever finds the spill owns it until it is dealt with — stand by it or make it visible; never walk past it.
- 2Place a wet-floor sign or improvise a barrier immediately. Signs live at [locations].
- 3Clean using the right method for the substance and floor: [e.g. paper towels for small spills, mop and dry for larger ones, absorbent granules for oil/grease at [location]].
- 4Dry the floor — a clean wet floor is still a slip hazard. Leave signage until fully dry.
- 5Report what spilled and why: repeated spills in one spot point to a leaking appliance, a bad pouring routine, or a layout problem worth fixing permanently.
7. Flooring, footwear, and lighting arrangements
- Flooring is chosen and replaced with slip resistance in mind for the conditions of each area; damaged flooring is repaired within [timescale] and guarded meanwhile.
- Staff in [kitchen/wet/production] areas wear slip-resistant footwear: [provided by {{org.name}} / specification]. Managers check compliance as part of shift checks.
- Cleaning is scheduled to minimise wet floors during busy periods; wet cleaning of walkways happens [when, e.g. after close], and cordless or cordon methods are used where cleaning must happen in trading hours.
- Lighting levels on stairs and level changes are maintained; step edges are marked with [nosing/contrast strip] where the risk assessment identifies them.
8. Reporting, records, and review
Every slip, trip, or fall — staff or customer, injury or near-miss — is recorded the same day under our accident and incident reporting procedure. [Name/role] reviews incidents and the fix-it log [frequency, e.g. monthly] for repeat locations and causes, and checks each incident against RIDDOR reporting duties.
Completed checklists and the fix-it log are kept in [system/location] for [period]. This procedure is reviewed [frequency, e.g. annually] and after any significant incident. Owner: [name/role]. Next review due: [date].
How to adapt this template.
Walk your actual site to build the checklist route — include the yard, the cellar steps, and the staff entrance, not just the customer-facing floor.
Photograph your current wet-floor sign locations and spill kit contents; buy what is missing before publishing the procedure that references it.
Set the walkthrough times to match your real shift pattern so the check has a named owner on every shift.
Fill every [bracketed placeholder], and agree the footwear rule (and who pays) before you commit it to paper.
Brief all staff on "see it, sort it, or stand by it" — the spill response only works as an everyone-job.
Review the fix-it log after the first month: repeat entries are your permanent-fix shopping list.
Turn this template into trained, proven behaviour
A policy in a drawer proves nothing. In TrainedTeam this template becomes assigned training with knowledge checks, e-signature acknowledgments, version history, and an audit-ready record of who completed what, when.
Slips, Trips & Falls Prevention template FAQs
Is a slips and trips procedure a legal requirement in the UK?
No law names the document, but the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require you to assess and control the risk — and slips and trips are among the most common causes of workplace injury. A written routine with daily checks is the standard, practical way to meet and evidence that duty; findings must be written down if you employ five or more people.
Are we responsible for customers who slip, or just staff?
Both. The duty under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 extends to people affected by your business, which includes customers and visitors on your premises. Customer slip incidents should be recorded and investigated with the same rigour as staff incidents — they also carry obvious insurance and claims implications.
What should we do first when someone finds a spill?
Make it visible and keep people away — sign it, guard it, or stand by it — before fetching anything to clean it with. Most slip injuries on spills happen in the gap between the spill occurring and anyone taking ownership of it, which is why the rule is that whoever finds it owns it until it is dealt with.
Do we have to report slip injuries to HSE?
Only the serious ones. Under RIDDOR 2013, deaths and specified injuries (which falls commonly cause, such as certain fractures) are reported without delay, and injuries that keep a worker off their normal duties for more than seven days are reported within 15 days. Record every incident internally regardless — patterns are the early warning.
Is a "wet floor" sign enough on its own?
No. Signage warns of a hazard; it does not remove it, and a sign that stands out permanently gets ignored. The procedure should treat signs as the temporary step between finding a hazard and eliminating it: clean and dry the floor, fix the leak, or change the cleaning schedule so the hazard stops recurring.
Related templates
Risk Assessment Procedure
Free risk assessment procedure template for UK businesses: five-step method, hierarchy of controls, records and review. Ready to edit and adopt.
Accident & Incident Reporting
Free accident and incident reporting procedure template for UK workplaces: immediate response, accident book, RIDDOR reporting and investigation steps.
Working at Height Procedure
Free working at height procedure template for UK businesses: planning hierarchy, ladder rules, equipment checks and rescue arrangements. Ready to edit.
Health & Safety Policy
Free health and safety policy template for UK employers: statement of intent, responsibilities and practical arrangements. Ready to edit and adopt.