Slips, Trips, and Falls Prevention Awareness

Yes. Every Canadian OHS jurisdiction - including the federal Canada Labour Code Part II, Alberta OHS Act, BC Workers Compensation Act, and all provincial equivalents - requires employers to identify and control slip, trip, and fall hazards. Employers must follow the hierarchy of controls, prioritizing elimination and engineering controls before relying on PPE or worker behaviour. Failure to maintain safe walking surfaces can result in fines, stop-work orders, and under Bill C-45 (the Westray Law), criminal charges against corporations and managers who show wanton or reckless disregard for worker safety.

In most Canadian provinces, formal fall protection is required at 3 metres (approximately 10 feet) for general industry and construction - this threshold applies in Alberta (OHS Code Part 9), BC (OHS Regulation Part 11), and Ontario (Regulation 213/91). The threshold can be lower for specific situations, such as 1.2 metres for excavations or where a fall could land workers on hazardous equipment. Fall protection follows a hierarchy: redesign work to be done from ground level first, then use passive guardrails, and only use active fall arrest systems (harness, lanyard, anchor) when other controls are not practicable.

Anti-icing - applying treatment before ice forms - is far more effective than de-icing after ice has bonded to pavement. Rock salt (sodium chloride) works only above -12°C, while calcium chloride remains effective to approximately -25°C and actively generates heat as it dissolves, making it the recommended product for most Canadian workplaces. BC OHS Regulation Sections 4.70–4.73, Alberta OHS Code Part 4 Section 20, and Ontario O. Reg. 213/91 Sections 17–23 all require outdoor walking surfaces to be maintained free of slip hazards throughout the period workers use them. Pre-shift inspections of all outdoor walkways must be documented - date, time, conditions observed, and corrective action taken - because that inspection log is the primary evidence of due diligence if a worker is injured.

Workers in kitchens and food service need SRC-rated slip-resistant footwear with oil-resistant rubber soles and channel-lug tread that expels liquid from under the sole. Healthcare workers should also wear SRC-rated shoes with enclosed toes. CSA Z195 approval covers hazard protection (steel toe, puncture resistance) but does not guarantee slip resistance - employers must verify the specific model's slip rating, not just the CSA stamp. Under Canadian OHS regulations, employers are required to ensure workers have footwear appropriate for the slip hazards present, and must provide that footwear at no cost to the worker if it is not standard issue.

Yes. Under most Canadian OHS legislation, near-misses are reportable events - workers are legally obligated to report any slip, trip, or near-fall to their supervisor, not just incidents that result in injury. For every serious STF injury in a Canadian workplace, there are approximately 30 near-misses and 600 hazard-exposures on the same surface. Organizations that only track injuries miss the vast majority of hazard signals. Reporting near-misses gives employers the information needed to fix hazards before injuries occur, and workers who identify a hazard and do not report it are failing their own OHS obligation under provincial and federal legislation.