The perceptions of managers and accident subjects in the service industries towards slip and trip accidents.

Slips and trips are a major cause of injury and lost time, and remain so despite specific initiatives. The work presented here focuses on how accident subjects and their managers each perceive the circumstances of an accident with respect to causal responsibility. To investigate this issue, a research questionnaire was designed, piloted and then applied to 33 occupational slip and trip accidents reported to a Local Authority Inspectorate. The results showed important differences in the attribution of causal responsibility between those who experience and those who investigate slips and trip accidents. The levels of agreement between individual accident subjects and their managers was at best fair (using kappa). The consequences of this and the limited scope of investigation carried out by managers is highlighted and the need for improved training and the development of a practical model of risk assessment and investigation for managers is advanced.