Slip / Trip / Fall Hazard Audit

This template covers the most common slip, trip, and fall conditions found on walking-working surfaces: floor condition, obstructions, stairs, ramps, housekeeping, lighting, and entryway moisture control. It is designed to capture observable hazards and note whether controls are in place and effective. Use it as a targeted hazard hunt, not a general safety inspection. If you need a different scope, you can adapt it for a single area such as a dock, lobby, production floor, or exterior route.

Run it on a routine cadence that matches your exposure, such as weekly in high-traffic areas and monthly in lower-risk areas. Also use it after weather events, spills, layout changes, maintenance work, or any reported near-miss. The right frequency is the one that catches conditions before employees start working around them. If your site has recurring moisture, congestion, or seasonal ice, increase the cadence for those zones.

A supervisor, safety lead, facilities lead, or other trained inspector can run it, provided they know what a deficiency looks like and can verify corrective action. In larger sites, a competent person or area owner should walk the route with someone who can fix issues quickly. The template works best when the inspector can distinguish a minor housekeeping issue from a critical fall hazard. It is also useful for joint inspections with operations and maintenance.

Yes, it aligns with common expectations under OSHA general industry and construction walking-working surface requirements, along with related housekeeping and access-control duties. It also supports ANSI/ASSP safety program practices and can be adapted for sites governed by NFPA, FDA Food Code, or other industry rules when slip and trip exposure is part of the operation. The template is not a legal opinion, but it helps document conditions in the language inspectors and auditors expect. If your site has local building or fire-code requirements, add those checks where relevant.

The biggest mistake is writing vague notes like "floor okay" instead of describing the actual condition, location, and severity. Another common miss is ignoring transitions, thresholds, and temporary conditions such as wet mats, extension cords, or debris from deliveries. Teams also forget to verify that controls are actually in use, such as wet-floor signs, traction mats, or handrails. Finally, many audits identify hazards but do not assign a clear owner and due date for correction.

Yes, and you should. Add site-specific areas such as loading docks, freezer entrances, production aisles, stair towers, mezzanines, parking lots, or public lobbies depending on your operation. You can also add local rules for footwear, snow and ice control, or spill response. The template is meant to be a starting point that you tailor to your actual walking routes and risk points.

An ad-hoc walkaround often finds obvious problems but misses repeatable documentation, trend tracking, and follow-up. This template gives you a consistent checklist, so different inspectors look for the same hazards and record them the same way. That makes it easier to spot recurring deficiencies like wet entryways, damaged nosings, or cluttered aisles. It also creates a cleaner record for corrective action and audit readiness.

Record the exact location, describe the condition, and classify whether it is a critical item that needs immediate control. Then assign corrective action to the right owner, such as housekeeping, maintenance, or operations, and verify closure after the fix. If the hazard is active, use interim controls like barricades, cleanup, signage, or temporary rerouting. The audit is only useful if findings are tracked to completion.