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Safety Reminder: Slippery Conditions
Focus on your surroundings and slow down
Slips, trips, and falls are a leading cause of workplace injuries. This time of year, with the temperatures dropping, slippery walking conditions are the main reason for injuries from slips and falls. There are several things that you can remind employees to do to prevent slips:
- Slow down - Make sure you are leaving enough time on the way to work, on the way home, between meetings, and for offsite activities. Avoid rushing anywhere during slippery conditions.
- Focus on your surroundings - Avoid multi-tasking while walking, keep your eyes open for ice patches or debris on the sidewalk. Using the cellphone while walking is never a good idea, especially when walking in slippery conditions.
- Address icy patches right away - If you see a buildup of ice, or a particularly slippery patch on a walking path, ensure that the proper people are notified, and if you can, put some gravel or salt down to provide more traction.
- Wear appropriate footwear - Never be caught off guard! Ensure that you swap your regular walking shoes for something with a good tread as soon as the temperature drops; you never know when ice will appear!
- 3 point contact - When walking up or down stairs, ensure that at least one hand is free to stabilize yourself on the railing.
Employers ask yourself: Do your workers know...
- Who your designated maintenance person is? They need to know this information to report slippery patches as soon as possible.
- How to report an incident or injury? If they do slip on the ice on a worksite, do they know that they need to report it to their supervisor and fill in the appropriate paperwork?
- What type of footwear they should be wearing in slippery conditions?
Make sure your supervisors and employees have the information they need to keep all of your workers safe! Above all, remind employees that they need to pay extra attention in seasons where the weather changes.
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An essential part of every OHS Program
All workers have the right to know the hazards in their workplace, and must be trained to do their job safely. Ongoing training is an essential part of every Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Program, and having your workers properly trained for the work they do is required under legislation. Training should start from a worker's first day on the job and should continue throughout their employment.
Orientation Training Must Be Provided When:
- A worker is new to the workplace;
- A worker is returning to a job after an extended leave, or where processes or hazards have changed;
- The location of work has changed;
- New hazards are present in the worksite (e.g. new equipment, new products, seasonal changes, etc.); or,
- The worker has been assigned to a new task.
What Training doES AN Employer need to provide?*
- Orientation Training - must be provided to a new or young worker, or to a worker who has returned after extended leave.
- Orientation should involve general content on workplace safety, as well as site-specific training. Employers must identify all hazards in the workplace.
- WHMIS Training - all workers working with controlled products must have WHMIS 2015 training, and job-specific WHMIS training must be provided for hazardous materials that are found in your workplace.
- Supervisor Safety Training - all supervisors must take a WSCC approved Supervisor Safety Course, a list of approved providers can be found on WSCC's website.
- Ongoing Training and Education - Employers, supervisors, and workers should all work together to identify further training that is necessary to the safety of all workers. Ongoing safety training can take many forms: WSCC Toolbox Safety Talks, job specific courses, or in house training on methods, machinery, and tools found in the workplace.
Remember to track a worker's training (what they have, what you provided in orientation, what they need, and when they need to renew training) in your employees' record files.
Templates for orientation checklists and employee training records can be found here. For a thorough guide to orientation training for new and young workers, check out WSCC's NEW Young and New Worker Safety Orientation resource.
Training is an ongoing process from a worker's first day on the job to their last. If you have any questions about whether you are meeting your legislated requirement to provide training, contact the WSCC today.
*Legislation surrounding training for NT businesses and Nunavut business can be found in the OHS Regulations (NT and NU) section 3.18, Training of Workers. For NT and NU Mining Legislation, please see the Mine Health and Safety Regulations (NT and NU), section 9.30.
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Resource Feature: Woodworking Toolbox Talks
Start the conversation about safety in the woodshop
The WSCC has released safety Toolbox Talks aimed at young workers as part of our Ask. You're Worth !t campaign. These resources are industry specific, but also contain topics that apply to many situations. You will find instructor and student versions for each topic.
- Instructor guides contain a topic-specific guide for safety training in the workplace, as well as conversation prompts to support further discussion.
- Student versions provide brief descriptions of the danger, relevant images and diagrams, and a list of hazards associated with the topic.
Woodworking safety Toolbox Talks
Available Woodworking Safety Toolbox Talks:
Who should Use these safety Toolbox Talks?
- Instructors - If you are working for a school or program that teaches woodworking or construction skills, these sheets are perfect for you! Pass handouts to the students while walking them through a discussion about safety.
- Employers - These sheets are perfect for supplementing your site-specific orientation and training program. Give the student version to your young and new worker, and walk through the instructor guide with the student. You can file the sheet in the employee's permanent file as a record of safety training on the subject. Use the Young and New Worker Safety Orientation Checklist to ensure all safety orientation topics are covered.
- Students - It is essential that young workers learn to be proactive when learning about hazards in the workplace. These toolbox talks encourage supervisors and instructors to teach their young workers how to start a conversation about safety. The student guides can act as a stand-alone piece, which will support their site specific safety education.
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The Governance Council reviewed and approved the following policies and GC directives at its September 2019 meeting:
- Policy 04.01, Payment of Compensation
- Policy 04.06, Medications
- Policy 04.08, Medical Devices
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OFFICE CLOSURES
WSCC's offices are closed for Remembrance Day on Monday, November 11, and will reopen on Tuesday, November 12 at 8:30 AM.
To report a serious workplace injury or incident, call 1-800-661-0792.
To report unsafe work, use our Report Unsafe Work service on WSCC Connect.
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wscc.nt.ca / 1.800.661.0792 * wscc.nu.ca / 1.877.404.4407
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