There are few things in the world that I am more likely to trip over than a trip hazard sign.  Usually, I can avoid any stray bananas that lay in my path; have little difficulty circumventing the odd workman’s cable; but a trip hazard sign draws me to it like Mo Salah to a defender’s outstretched leg in the penalty box.

According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), “Statistics show slipping and tripping to be the single most common cause of major injury in UK workplaces.”  So, it is no surprise that the HSE website takes trip hazards very seriously.

There is even a Trip Potential Triangle, which governs the likelihood of falling victim to a trip hazard.  The three apexes of the Trip Potential Triangle are labelled Walkways; Housekeeping; and Design and Maintenance.  Each category seems fairly self-explanatory if also rather overlapping.  Personally, I think that the Trip Potential Triangle could be reduced to the Trip Potential Paragraph, but that may be suppressing the creativity of a latent Matisse employed by the HSE.

I have my own Trip Potential Triangle.

The HSE states that most trips are caused by obstructions in walkways.  Most of my trips are caused by being drunk.

If the HSE were ever to create a physical model of the Trip Potential Triangle, the chances are I’d trip over that, too.

© Beery Sue

Beery Sue is no stranger to the odd trip.