Safety campaign stresses dangers of slips at work

A NEW safety campaign to cut slips, trips and falls at work has been launched, four days after two painters fell to their deaths from the Forth and Tay bridges.

Five people were killed in these types of incidents in Scotland in 2008-9, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said yesterday.

This compares with ten in the previous year and five in 2006-7.

The HSE, which was launching the latest phase of its Shattered Lives initiative to raise awareness of such dangers, said such incidents were the most common cause of workplace injuries and cost Britain 800 million a year.

HSE Scotland director Dr Paul Stollard said: "These figures highlight the very real and serious nature of preventable slip, trip and fall incidents in the workplace."