Slips, Trips and Falls: Staff Safety in Irish Care Settings

Slips, trips and falls on the same level are one of the most common ways staff get hurt in nursing homes, home support services, clinics and hospitals. In Ireland, the employer's duty to protect staff comes from the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 and the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations 2007, and the regulator for workplace safety is the Health and Safety Authority (HSA). This guide sets out what those sources say, how to build the duties into your safety statement and risk assessment, and what to do when a staff member is injured.

One boundary first. This post is about staff safety. Falls by residents or patients are a separate matter and are not covered here.

What the 2005 Act requires of the employer

Section 8 of the 2005 Act sets out the employer's general duties. The employer must, so far as is reasonably practicable, protect the safety, health and welfare at work of employees. The section lists particular duties, including these:

• keeping the place of work in a safe condition so far as is reasonably practicable;
• setting up work systems that are planned, organised, maintained and revised as necessary so that they are safe;
• providing the information, instruction, training and supervision needed to protect employees; and
• reporting accidents and dangerous occurrences as prescribed.

Section 19 requires the employer to identify the hazards in the workplace under their control, assess the risks, and hold a written risk assessment. It must be reviewed after a significant change or if there is reason to think it is no longer valid, and the employer must act on the improvements it identifies. Section 20 requires a written safety statement based on that risk assessment. The statement must set out the hazards and risks, the protective and preventive measures, emergency arrangements, employees' safety duties and the people assigned tasks under it. It must be brought to employees' attention at least once a year and when it changes, and given to new starters.

Staff have duties too. Under section 13, an employee must report promptly to the employer, or another appropriate person, any work being done in a way that could endanger anyone, any defect in the workplace, work methods or equipment that might be a danger, and any breach of safety law that might be a danger. In practice this is the legal footing for a "see it, report it" approach to wet floors and damaged flooring.

What the General Application Regulations 2007 say about floors and routes

Chapter 1 of Part 2 of the Regulations deals with the workplace and applies to places of work as defined in Regulation 4. We summarise the provisions most relevant to slips, trips and falls below. Read the Regulations themselves for the exact wording, and see our overview of the General Application Regulations 2007 for how the instrument is organised.

• Floors (Regulation 9). The employer must ensure that room floors have no dangerous bumps, holes or slopes, are fixed and stable and, so far as is reasonably practicable, are not slippery. Floor, wall and ceiling surfaces must also be capable of being cleaned to an appropriate hygiene standard. The same Regulation requires transparent or translucent walls, such as glass partitions, near workstations or traffic routes to be clearly marked, made of safety material or screened.
• Traffic routes (Regulation 14). Indoor and outdoor workplaces must be laid out so pedestrians and vehicles can move safely. Traffic routes, including stairs, fixed ladders, loading bays and ramps, must be designed, positioned and sized for easy and safe access. Routes must be sized for the number of users, and clearly identified where the layout requires it. Danger areas where there is a risk of an employee or objects falling must be fitted with devices to stop unauthorised entry and must be clearly indicated.
• Lighting (Regulation 8). Places of work must have as much natural light as practicable plus adequate artificial lighting, fittings must not themselves create accident risks, and emergency lighting is required where a lighting failure would put employees at particular risk.
• Emergency routes (Regulation 12). Emergency routes and exits, and the doors leading to them, must be kept unobstructed at all times. In a care setting, this is a good reason to keep corridors clear of hoists, linen trolleys and stored equipment.
• Cleanliness (Regulation 18). Every place of work must be kept clean, with dirt, refuse and waste removed as frequently as necessary to maintain an appropriate level of safety and health. Workroom floors must be cleaned in the same way.

Notice what these provisions do not do. As far as we read them, they do not set a slip-resistance value, a floor-cleaning schedule or a maximum slope. The standard is expressed in terms such as "reasonably practicable" and "as frequently as necessary", which is why the risk assessment matters.

What HSA guidance says for health and social care

The HSA has a page on slips, trips and falls in health and social care. It says that slips, trips and falls on the same level were the highest reported accident trigger in the sector, with 443 non-fatal reported incidents in 2023. Check the HSA page for the current figures.

Its advice to employers includes:

• choose flooring that suits the work and keep it in good condition;
• prevent wet, greasy or cluttered floors through good housekeeping, deal with spills promptly and encourage a "see it, sort it" attitude;
• keep people off wet floors while they are cleaned and review cleaning procedures;
• mark slopes and level changes clearly;
• consult with and involve staff, and risk assess to identify high-risk areas; and
• provide slip-resistant footwear where other controls are not enough, trialled in the workplace first.

The HSA's health and social care section also has pages on mapping hazards, stairs and steps, slippery surfaces and entrances. The Health Service Executive (HSE) has a Safety Advisory Guidance Note on preventing slips, trips and falls (version 3, September 2025 according to its own header) that recommends documented risk assessments, "clean as you go" practice, barriers around wet areas and a cleaning log. That note is issued by the HSE's National Health and Safety Function, so use it as a model rather than as a requirement for your own service.

Carrying out the risk assessment in a care setting

A practical approach: walk the building the way a carer does. Start where the HSA and HSE material points: kitchens, bathrooms, entrances and car parks, stairs, and anywhere floor types change. For a home support service, the relevant "premises" include the service user's home, so consider how staff will deal with loose rugs, cables, pets and wet floors there. Record each hazard, who is exposed, the controls and who is responsible, then feed the results into the safety statement.

Our suggestions for common controls, which are not legal requirements:

• schedule floor cleaning for quieter periods where possible, and use signs or barriers on wet areas;
• agree a named person for spills on each shift;
• keep corridors and bedroom floors clear of cables and equipment;
• check entrances in wet and icy weather; and
• ask staff what nearly caused a fall. Near-miss information is often the cheapest hazard survey you will get.

For Dublin employers with several sites, a single template applied site by site helps, but each site needs its own assessment because the layout and floors differ.

Reporting a staff injury to the HSA

Accident reporting is governed by Part 14 of the General Application Regulations 2007 (Regulations 224 to 229), inserted by the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) (Amendment) (No. 3) Regulations 2016 (S.I. No. 370 of 2016). According to the HSA's guidance, an employer must report an injury to an employee from a workplace accident that stops them doing their normal work for more than three consecutive days, not counting the day of the accident. The HSA's guidance says weekends and other non-working days are included in the three days. Injuries to non-employees, such as a visitor, must be reported where they are taken from the scene to a hospital or medical facility. A fall on a wet floor can fall into either category.

The HSA guidance says non-fatal accidents are reported within ten working days, that a fatal accident is notified immediately and reported formally within five working days, and that records of accidents and dangerous occurrences must be kept for ten years. Reports are made through the HSA's online system, with a paper IR1 form available. The HSA guidance also says failure to report accidents covered by the Regulations is an offence. For the full process, see our guide to accident and dangerous occurrence reporting. The HSA says this guidance is not a legal interpretation, so check the Regulations for your own situation.

After any incident, the HSA's investigation advice for health and social care is to gather information, analyse it, identify controls, set an action plan, assign responsibility, record new controls in the safety statement, tell affected staff and monitor whether the controls work.

Learnsignal's offices are off Baggot Street in Dublin, and we offer in-person training from there. For current details, see our CPD pages.

Frequently asked questions

Do the General Application Regulations 2007 apply to care homes?

Chapter 1 of Part 2 applies to places of work as defined in Regulation 4, which covers locations on an undertaking's premises that house workstations and other areas employees go to in the course of work. A care setting is an employer's workplace, so the 2005 Act applies, and the Regulations apply to the extent a place of work falls within their definitions. Check the definitions for any unusual setting.

Is there a legal slip-resistance standard for care home floors?

Not in the provisions we read. Regulation 9 says floors must have no dangerous bumps, holes or slopes, be fixed and stable and, so far as is reasonably practicable, not be slippery, but it does not state a numeric value. Decisions about flooring should come from your risk assessment.

Are resident falls covered by this guidance?

No. This post covers staff safety under the HSA's remit.

When must a staff slip or fall be reported to the HSA?

According to the HSA's reporting guidance, when the injury stops the employee doing their normal work for more than three consecutive days, excluding the day of the accident. The formal report is due within ten working days.

Do employees have any duties?

Yes. Section 13 of the 2005 Act requires employees to report dangers, defects and unsafe work methods to the employer as soon as practicable, and not to behave improperly in ways that put anyone's safety at risk.

In short, keep floors and routes safe and clean, assess the risk in writing, tell staff how to report hazards, and report qualifying injuries to the HSA on time.