DES PLAINES, IL - In an effort to educate and present best practices and solutions aimed at preventing slips, trips and falls in the workplace, the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) will offer a virtual symposium titled "Slips, Trips and Falls: Best Practices and Standards" this October 20 - 22.

As a follow-up to its successful first virtual symposium in April titled 'Best-in-Class Safety Management', ASSE's upcoming 'Slips, Trips, and Falls: Best Practices and Standards' virtual symposium will discuss how to minimize the cost of slips, trips and falls - both personal and financial - in the workplace. ASSE and its members have found that slips, trips and falls account for a vast majority of workplace incidents and can negatively affect employees as well as cause a significant financial burden on organizations.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), falls alone were responsible for 13 percent of all workplace deaths in 2008, with falls being the third largest cause of on-the-job deaths. In 2007, nonfatal work injuries due to falls on the same level, requiring days away from work, increased by 10 percent from 2006 levels. In addition, floors, walkways and ground surfaces accounted for 20 percent of all 'days-away-from-work' injuries or illnesses in 2007, an increase of seven percent from 2006.

In a Professional Safety Journal article titled, "Walkway Surface Safety & Traction in the Workplace: The Rest of the Equation" Steven Di Pilla, ARM, American National Standards Institute (ANSI)/ASSE A1264.2 slip resistance standard subcommittee chair noted,"Falls in the workplace are the number one preventable loss type, and in public places, falls are far and away the leading cause of injury.

"To achieve significant reductions in accidental losses, risk managers and safety professionals must identify loss problems through analysis, establish priorities and attack the worst problems first. Falls are the dominant controllable loss type in most types of businesses, whether the exposure is highest to employees, customers or both," Di Pilla wrote.