New National Guide Targets Slips, Trips and Falls in the Workplace

A practical guide for every workplace

Slips, trips and falls can happen in almost any workplace, indoors or out, and they can cause serious injuries and deaths. Released in September 2026, Safe Work Australia’s new Guide to managing the risks of slips, trips and falls is designed as an easy-to-use resource that works across a wide range of industries.

The guide is for all duty holders: businesses (PCBUs), people who manage or control a workplace or how work is done (such as a foreman or lead hand), designers, manufacturers, suppliers and installers, and company officers. Workers and visitors have duties too, including taking reasonable care for their own safety. Throughout the guide, “must” marks a legal requirement and “should” marks a recommended course of action.

Term	What it means
Slip	A person’s foot loses traction with the ground, leading to loss of balance.
Trip	A person unexpectedly catches their foot on an object or surface.
Fall	A person descends to the ground or a lower level without control, including from small heights such as a stair or kerb.

Falls from more than 2 metres are not covered, as they are treated differently under WHS laws depending on the jurisdiction and industry.

Start with the hierarchy of control

Duty holders must always aim to eliminate the risk. If that is not reasonably practicable, they must minimise it by working down the hierarchy of control, from the most effective measures to the least:

Control level	Slips, trips and falls example
1. Elimination	Design a workplace on a single level so there are no stairs to fall down.
2. Substitution	Replace slippery flooring with a slip-resistant surface.
3. Isolation	Cordon off a slippery surface so people cannot walk on it.
4. Engineering	Mark step edges with a high-contrast, slip-resistant strip.
5. Administrative	Schedule housekeeping, set clear clean-up policies and train workers.
6. PPE	Provide slip-resistant footwear that fits properly and is replaced when the tread wears down.

The guide stresses that the best time to control these risks is before work starts. Good work design lets you “design out” hazards and “design in” controls, by thinking about the type of work, the physical environment, systems and processes, and what workers need and can do.

Key hazard areas and how to control them

Hazard area	Practical controls
Floors and surfaces	Keep floors even and level, use ramps rather than steps, choose slip-resistant flooring for wet areas, secure mats and carpets, and put drains and grates close to liquid sources. Monitor slip resistance and use cleaning methods that don’t leave slippery residue.
Outdoor and extreme environments	Maintain designated paths, fix drainage where water pools, light areas used after dark, trim vegetation and schedule sprinklers outside busy times. In cold rooms, kitchens and laundries, add handrails, control humidity and fix leaks quickly.
Ramps and stairs	Meet the National Construction Code and Australian Standards, keep slopes and step sizes consistent, use contrasting colours on edges, and fit handrails that extend onto flat ground.
Lighting	Provide at least 100 lux in walkways, corridors, staircases and lifts so far as reasonably practicable, avoid sudden changes between bright and dark areas, control glare, and replace failing bulbs promptly.
Furniture	Keep furniture stable, use anti-slip pads and braked castors on hard floors, close drawers, and keep walkways and exits clear.
Ladders	Train workers before use, inspect ladders each time, use a load rating of at least 120 kg (AS 1892.1), keep three points of contact, allow only one person at a time and never straddle the ladder.

On ladders, the guide is clear that they are not safe to use without additional fall protection near an open edge or railing, where the worker must overreach, or when using two-handed tools that need high leverage.

Time pressure and fatigue: the hidden contributors

One of the guide’s most important messages is that slips, trips and falls are not only about wet floors and loose cables. How work is organised matters too. Time pressure, when there is not enough time to do the work, can push workers to rush and cut corners. It also increases fatigue, which reduces a person’s ability to spot hazards, judge distance and keep their balance.

Effectively controlling time pressure is not just about having enough time to complete the work, it is having enough time to complete the work safely.

Safe Work Australia, Guide to managing the risks of slips, trips and falls

Controls include realistic deadlines and quotas, staffing that matches the workload, enough breaks during and between shifts, minimising long, irregular or night shifts, providing equipment such as trolleys for loads, and mixing fast and slow-paced work.

Report, notify and review

Workers and others must know exactly who to contact to report a slip, trip or fall risk or incident, and preventative reporting should be encouraged. For example, report a leaking tap before a puddle forms. Some incidents must be notified to the WHS regulator, including serious falls, which have no height threshold, and serious injuries.

Controls should be reviewed regularly and also after an incident or near miss, when a hazard is reported, when layout, flooring, equipment or tasks change, after extreme weather, when workers say controls aren’t working, or when a Health and Safety Representative asks.

Source: © Commonwealth of Australia. Adapted from Safe Work Australia, Guide to managing the risks of slips, trips and falls (September 2026), licensed under CC BY 4.0, and New guide to managing the risks of slips, trips and falls (29 September 2026). Featured photo: T.H. Chia on Unsplash.