Work-related slip, trip and fall injuries reported by National Health Service staff in Great Britain: how many are due to slipping?

Background: Workplace injuries due to a slip, trip or fall on the level (STF) are often reported together, making the potential impact of targeted interventions, such as slip-resistant footwear, difficult to assess. The objective of this research was to review workplace non-fatal injuries reported as STFs under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 to determine what proportion of staff STF injuries reported by the National Health Service (NHS) in Great Britain were caused specifically by a slip.

Methods: The free text descriptions of all 1004 STF injuries reported by NHS staff in summer 2018 and winter 2018/2019 were independently reviewed by two researchers to determine whether a slip was the primary cause or not. Where agreement could not be reached or the cause was unclear, an STF specialist reviewed the reports to establish the likely cause. The kappa statistic was used to measure inter-reviewer agreement, and the χ² test was used to compare proportions across seasons.

Results: The reviewers agreed on the initiating event, slip or non-slip, for 917 (91.3%) of the incidents. The kappa statistic was 0.842 (95% CI 0.785 to 0.898) indicating strong agreement between reviewers. In total, 431 or 42.9% (95% CI 39.8% to 46.1%) of the STF incidents were slips. This percentage was greater in winter compared with summer (49.0% and 36.0%, respectively, p<0.001).

Conclusion: The high proportion of slips among reported STF injuries implies that an effective intervention targeting workplace slips in the NHS could have a substantial impact on the number of injuries reported.