Slipping and falling

Falling and slipping can be prevented

Falling and slipping can be prevented by maintaining good physical fitness. Regular and versatile exercise that maintains your aerobic fitness, muscle strength and balance helps you stay fit. For the elderly in particular, balance and muscle strength training is important from the perspective of both mobility and the prevention of falls. Anyone with a compromised sense of balance should train their balance.

Many illnesses predispose you to falling. Diagnosis, good treatment and rehabilitation of illnesses are also important factors in preventing falls. Medication may also affect muscle function, mobility, blood pressure, balance or other similar factors that predispose you to falling. It is therefore important to ensure that your medication is up to date and to discuss their side effects with a doctor. You should also have your vision checked regularly and remember that alcohol consumption significantly increases the risk of falling.

Falling at home can be prevented by ensuring sufficient lighting both indoors and outdoors. If necessary, use an anti-slip mat under rugs and give your floors an anti-slip treatment. Keep passageways unobstructed and pick toys and other items up from the floor to avoid tripping on them. Electrical cables should also be kept away from passageways. Minimise the risk of falling by using sturdy stepladders with handrails. 

Falling is not a normal part of ageing. One in three elderly people’s falls and fall injuries could be prevented by addressing the key falling hazards. Fall risk assessment forms can be used to roughly estimate the risk of falls (see Fall Risk Assessment). It is a good idea to bring up concerns about your own or a loved one’s risk of falling. If a fracture occurs as a result of a fall or slip, the underlying cause may be osteoporosis.

Prevent slipping with your own actions and choices

When you go out in the winter, it is important to select your shoes according to the road conditions and use anti-slip devices if it is slippery. You can improve pedestrian safety in the winter by making small everyday choices: checking the weather in advance, scheduling enough time for trips and focusing on walking. Pedestrians’ attentiveness, together with the elimination of environmental hazards, improve the safety of pedestrians in the winter and prevent slipping. In the winter, ensure that the yard areas have been cleaned of snow and sanded. If there are shortcomings in the sanding of passageways, notify the party responsible for maintenance.

Cornerstones for preventing falling and slipping

• Maintain good physical fitness by exercising regularly and diversely. 
• Ensure that your medication is up to date and discuss the side effects with your doctor. 
• Ensure versatile nutrition and sufficient hydration. 
• Reduce or avoid alcohol consumption. 
• Take care of adequate lighting and unobstructed passageways at home both indoors and outdoors. 
• Have safety devices and aids at home according to your needs. 
• Select your shoes according to the road conditions: use studded shoes or anti-slip devices if it is slippery. 
• Check the pedestrian weather before leaving and reserve enough time for trips.