Morrisons was recently ordered to pay £50,000 after one of its workers suffered a serious elbow fracture when she slipped on oil at its Ipswich store.
Elizabeth Williams was preparing meat for cooking at a food counter surrounded by a smooth terrazzo floor. She slipped and suffered a serious elbow injury. As a result of this nasty fall, Elizabeth was off work for seven months and had three operations.
Morrisons had previously been investigated by Ipswich Borough Council about slip and trip problems in their shop. The supermarket had been given a written warning and instructed to add a resin to roughen the floor surface or supply employees with ant-slip footwear.
Despite the warning, the Supermarket failed to implement the work recommended by the Council.
After Elizabeth’s fall, the local authority investigation found the accident was one of a catalogue of similar incidents. It revealed 144 similar slip and trip accidents in the food preparation areas in 2007 at Morrisons’ 430-plus supermarkets.
The Supermarket giant had been sued in May last year for a similar incident at one of its Leeds stores where the same tiles were installed in a new branch. Morrisons was fined £21,000 after it was warned by Health and Safety Officials not to use terrazzo in its food preparation areas.
Elizabeth’s case against Morrisons was heard on 5th September 2011 at Ipswich Magistrates Court. Although the supermarket fought the case, it eventually pleaded guilty at the last minute.
Tips: Main causes of slip and trip injuries in supermarkets
Incidents of slip and trip are avoidable. If a supermarket takes health and safety issues seriously it can implement a positive programme to stop hurting workers.
Slip and trip hazards tend to be:
Chilled processing rooms suffering from condensation causing floors to get wet. - Product Spillage such as yogurt, water, oil grapes etc.
- Poor housekeeping such as failing to keep the floor clean.
- Oil required for food preparation at food counters.
- Unsafe acts by workers - pallets strewn across floors, boxes being left all over the place, hoses not rewound etc.
- Workers not being trained to understand personal risks such how to deal with hazards.
- Poor ergonomic design of certain work areas such as food counters.
- Failing to provide ant-slip footwear for working at food counters in a supermarket.
- Floors in some areas such as food counters not designed to cope with the people working there.
Hints: How to prove negligence in a slip and trip accident
You can prove negligence by showing that:
- A supermarket such as Morrisons failed to provide training to its workers along with awareness sessions on the significance and dangers of slips and trips.
Risk assessment training was not given to workers.
- Morrisons had no proper housekeeping regime in place, for example, pallets were scattered across the floor, hoses were not rewound, boxes were strewn across the floor etc.
- Ant-slip footwear was not provided in areas where wet conditions were unavoidable.
A slip and trip injury claim can be handled by an injury lawyer who will see to it that you are fully compensated for any pain and loss you suffered. To get a good accident solicitor, contact Balinda and Co now on 0800 321 3287 and find out how we can help.