June 27, 2023

Slips, trips and falls and heat illnesses

As a service to our policyholders, Texas Mutual shares serious workplace injury trends based on catastrophic injuries and fatalities reported to our claims department. Not all of these reported injuries are covered by workers’ compensation, but our goal is to help you ensure these types of incidents do not happen in your workplace. Find safety tips below to help keep your employees safe on the job.

If you have questions, we encourage you to contact our safety services support center at 844-WORKSAFE (967-5723) or safety@texasmutual.com.

In this alert:

• Slips, trips and falls
• Heat illnesses

Same-level slips, trips and falls

An employee was walking on a designated pathway outdoors and stepped in a hole, causing them to fall and hit their head on the concrete. In another incident, an employee was in the process of moving a vehicle and stepped on a piece of cardboard, which caused them to fall forward. The employee sustained wrist fractures from attempting to break their fall.

While we tend to focus heavily on falls from elevated surfaces, falls on the same level are actually one of the leading causes of injury across industries. It’s important to focus on walking surfaces to ensure your facility is safe.

• Wear shoes that are in good condition with good traction.
• Report any poorly lit areas or uneven walking surfaces to your manager.
• Clean up your work area throughout the day by disposing of trash and putting away unnecessary tools or materials.
• Close drawers and remove other obstacles from walkways to keep them free of clutter.
• Clean up spills immediately or block them off when a larger cleanup effort is needed.

Heat illnesses from outdoor work

At least two cases of heat stroke have been reported to Texas Mutual so far this year. In both cases, the employees were working outdoors. One employee experienced vomiting and blurry vision while the other began slurring their speech and losing sensation on one side of their body. Both employees were transported to the hospital and diagnosed with heat stroke.

Heat illnesses are dangerous and can quickly worsen if left untreated. It’s important to take symptoms seriously in yourself and your co-workers.

• Build up your tolerance to working in the heat by starting at 20% of your workload and increasing another 20% each day.
• While working in hot conditions, take breaks in cool or shady areas.
• Drink at least one cup of water every 20 minutes.
• Stop working to cool down if you notice any signs of heat stress.
• If anyone experiences severe signs of heat stress such as slurred speech, seizures or loss of consciousness, call 911 right away.

Get free safety resources

Texas Mutual policyholders have access to thousands of free training materials in our multimedia safety resource center, including our safety catalog with up-to-date resources.

To access the free materials, log in to your texasmutual.com account and select Safety. If you need help accessing the safety resource center or you have a workplace safety question, call us toll-free at 844-WORKSAFE (967-5723).

Download a PDF (432KB) version of the June Safety Alert.