Slips and trips are one of the main causes of injury in warehouses. In 2024, slipping and falling was behind almost a quarter of all non-fatal incidents reported to the Health and Safety Authority, or HSA, second only to manual handling.

Electrical equipment also causes accidents and fires every year. This module explains the law on these hazards, and gives practical advice on preventing slips and trips, electrical accidents and fire.

Under Part 2 of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations 2007, employers must keep the workplace safe and in good order. Floors and traffic routes should:

• Be suitable for their purpose.
• Be even, with no holes or unnecessary slopes.
• Not be slippery.
• Drain effectively, where this is needed.
• Be kept free from obstructions.
• Have suitable and sufficient lighting.

Slips and trips must never be seen as things that just happen. Everyone has a part to play in preventing them.

The regulations and their guidance also set standards for housekeeping and maintenance:

• Keep the workplace clean.
• Deal with any spill that could cause a slip straight away.
• Do not let waste build up. Remove it regularly, and keep it in designated waste areas.
• Maintain the workplace, equipment and systems regularly.
• Give staircases at least one handrail, and two where there is a higher risk of falling.

The cost of slips and trips is high for everyone: painful injuries for workers, and absence, higher insurance costs and even fines for employers.

Use your risk assessment to find the trip hazards in your warehouse. Common ones include:

• Pallets, and goods left in gangways.
• Waste packaging, shrink wrap and loops of banding strap.
• Trailing cables.
• Holes, cracks and sudden changes in level, such as ramps.
• Loose floor tiles, mats and worn carpets.
• Low fixtures, such as door stops and floor sockets.

In warehousing, trips cause most of the reported slip and trip injuries. They are usually caused by uneven floors, or objects left on the floor and in traffic routes.

Slips rarely happen on clean, dry floors. They happen when something gets between the shoe and the floor, and reduces grip. This is called floor contamination. Common slip hazards include:

• Spills of water, oil, cleaning products, food or powder.
• Wet floors after cleaning.
• Rain, snow and ice carried in from outside, and freezing condensation.
• Dust, shrink wrap and plastic bags.
• Loose mats, slopes and unsuitable floor surfaces.
• Unsuitable footwear, or wet shoes moving onto a dry floor.

Some slip and trip hazards are obvious, like a pallet left in a gangway. Others are much easier to miss, and your risk assessment should look for them deliberately. Raised edges on floor plates or mats, nails sticking up from boards, low fixtures such as door stops, and plug sockets set into floors or low on walls all catch feet, especially when someone is carrying a load and cannot see the floor.

Loose tiles, boards and carpets move underfoot. On the slip side, condensation that freezes in cold stores or loading bays turns a floor into ice. Dusty or powdery surfaces, often caused by spilled grains or packaging dust, act like a lubricant between shoe and floor. Walking from a wet area onto a dry one with wet shoes can be just as dangerous. These incidents are not trivial. Workers may suffer pain, stress and long-term injury, while employers face lost time, insurance claims and legal action.

Keep floors and traffic routes clear at all times, especially stairs, doorways, gangways, emergency routes, and corners and junctions. In a fire, an obstruction could cost lives.

• Build a positive culture, where everyone takes responsibility for trip hazards.
• Repair holes and uneven surfaces.
• Plan workflows, and provide enough storage, so that goods are not left in walkways.
• Mark walkways clearly, and route cables away from them.
• Clear waste and materials from traffic routes promptly.
• Provide good lighting, and mark any hazard that cannot be removed.

Spills must be cleaned up immediately. But it is better still to stop the floor becoming contaminated in the first place:

• Check goods for leaks when they arrive.
• Have a simple system for reporting leaking goods.
• Inspect and maintain equipment, so that leaks are found and fixed.
• Provide entrance mats, so that rain is not carried inside.
• Plan for winter, with gritting, and closing routes that are too dangerous in snow and ice.
• Make sure suitable, slip-resistant footwear is worn at all times.

Floors must be cleaned regularly, but cleaning itself can cause slips if it is not done correctly.

Where possible, use dry methods, such as a vacuum cleaner. If you need to use a wet method, such as mopping up a spilt drink, nobody should walk on the floor until it is completely dry. Many slips happen on floors that are still wet from cleaning.

Use barriers to keep people away from the wet area, and put out wet floor signs. A sign alone is not enough, because people may not notice it. Warn people directly as well.

Electricity can cause shocks, burns and fires, and faulty electrics are one of the main causes of warehouse fires. Common electrical hazards include:

• Worn and exposed wires, such as old extension leads.
• Poorly designed, faulty or badly maintained equipment.
• Cables run under mats or carpets.
• Leaks of flammable liquids and gases near electrical equipment.

Touching voltages above 50 volts AC, or 120 volts DC, can cause electric shock and burns, and the danger increases with the voltage. Lower voltages can still be dangerous in wet conditions.

The main law on electricity at work is Part 3 of the General Application Regulations 2007. It requires that:

• All electrical systems are built to prevent danger, including in wet or harsh conditions.
• All electrical systems are maintained to prevent danger.
• Safe methods of work, and suitable protective equipment, are used when working on or near them.

Employers must give instruction, information and training to everyone who uses or maintains electrical equipment. Any work that needs electrical knowledge must only be done by someone trained and competent in electrical work.

Every electrical installation must be carried out by a competent person, such as a qualified electrician. Check that the person you choose is qualified.

Fixed installations must be checked regularly. They should be inspected and tested by a competent person at intervals that suit the type, location and use of the installation, with simple visual checks for damage much more often.

Higher-risk premises, or higher-risk areas, need more frequent inspection and testing.

Fixed equipment supplied by a permanent cable must have a means of isolation, so that the power can be switched off when needed.

Equipment may be Class 1, which relies on an earth connection, or Class 2, which is double insulated and needs no earth. It may be fixed, transportable, portable or hand-held. These affect how often it needs checking.

• Users should check equipment visually each time, before use.
• Trained people should carry out formal visual inspections at regular intervals.
• Competent people should carry out combined inspections and tests.
• Provide enough sockets, never overload them, and avoid trailing cables.
• Keep an inventory and maintenance records, and take faulty equipment out of use until repaired.

Manufacturers and suppliers of work equipment must provide clear instructions in English. These explain what the equipment is for, how to install and use it safely, how it must not be used, and how to clean and maintain it.

Electrical equipment designed for 50 to 1,000 volts AC, or 75 to 1,500 volts DC, must meet the EU low voltage rules. Equipment used where an explosive atmosphere could form, such as near flammable vapours, must meet the ATEX rules. The low voltage rules were brought into Irish law in 2016, and the ATEX rules in 2017.

Manufacturers and suppliers must provide printed health and safety instructions with work equipment, in English, although other languages may be added. A good instruction manual describes the equipment and its safety features, sets out its intended uses and any uses that are prohibited, and explains how to install and set it up correctly. It gives instructions for using it safely, and sets out the maintenance procedures, including cleaning, clearing blockages and inspections.

For machinery, the European Communities (Machinery) Regulations 2008 require more detailed guidance, tailored to the specific type of machine. Keep these manuals where users and maintenance staff can find them. The way equipment is built and used also affects how often it needs checking. Class 1 equipment relies on a secure earth connection, while Class 2 is double insulated. Equipment may be fixed, such as a palletiser; transportable, such as a welding machine; portable, such as a floor cleaning machine; or hand-held, such as an electric drill.

You must plan for emergencies, such as serious injuries, spills and electrical fires. In a small warehouse with non-hazardous goods, simple arrangements may be enough: meeting fire safety requirements, keeping emergency exits clear, making the premises easy for the emergency services to find, and having first aid in place.

A larger or higher-risk site needs written arrangements, covering how to raise the alarm, evacuation routes and assembly points, a site plan showing shut-off valves and electrical isolators, who takes control, the first aiders, and contact with the emergency services.

If you think someone has had an electric shock:

• Your own safety comes first. Do not touch the person while they are still in contact with the electricity.
• Switch off the power at the mains or isolator if you can, or remove the plug.
• If you cannot switch it off, stand on something dry and insulating, and use a dry, non-conducting object, such as a wooden broom handle, to separate the person from the source.
• Once contact is broken, call the emergency services, and give first aid.

No two electric shocks are quite the same. How serious a shock is depends on the type of current, the voltage involved, the path the current takes through the body, the general health of the person, and how quickly help arrives. This is why a fast, safe response matters so much. Remember that your own safety comes first, and never touch someone who is still in contact with the electrical source.

Switch off the power at the main switch or unplug the equipment if you can. If that is not possible and the supply is ordinary low voltage, stand on something dry and insulating and use a dry, non-conducting object to separate them. With high-voltage equipment or overhead lines, do not approach at all: keep everyone well back and call the emergency services. Once contact is broken, call the emergency services and give first aid.

Fire can spread very quickly in a warehouse, because the buildings are large and open, and hold large amounts of stored material. Fire services attend fires in workplaces every year, and they can kill, injure and destroy businesses.

The Fire Services Acts 1981 and 2003 require people in control of premises to prevent fires, and to have suitable evacuation procedures.

Fire needs three things: a source of ignition, fuel and oxygen. Your controls must keep them apart.

To prevent fires in your warehouse:

• Keep up good housekeeping, and clear away boxes, packaging and spills of combustible materials.
• Store hazardous chemicals in safe containers, away from sources of ignition.
• Inspect and maintain electrical equipment and machinery regularly.
• Check equipment before use, and take damaged items out of use and report them.
• Control smoking, and make sure cigarettes are put out safely in designated areas.
• Prevent arson by keeping out unauthorised people, and consider using closed-circuit television.