What this is
What is a slips, trips and falls talk?
What is a slips, trips and falls talk?
A short, structured briefing delivered at a shift start or team meeting that names the walking-surface hazards actually present at the site, shows what good control looks like, and checks that the people present understood it. It is a communication instrument, not a hazard assessment.
Who should deliver it?
A supervisor or trainer familiar with the site's real hazard pattern, ideally trainer-trained rather than only a subject expert. A person who knows the hazards but was never shown how to deliver a talk tends to describe the equipment and skip checking for understanding, the part that actually matters.
How is it different from a risk assessment?
A risk assessment identifies and rates the hazard; the talk communicates a summary of it to the workforce and checks they understood. A site can have a correct risk assessment and a talk that still fails, because the talk repeats stock content instead of the site's own findings.
Scope
When is a slips trips and falls talk required?
This talk is one instrument in a training programme, aimed specifically at walking-surface hazards. Using it to cover a different hazard family produces a record that reads as training but does not address the actual exposure.
Use this template when
- A new starter or someone changing role needs a first briefing on the site's walking-surface hazards
- A worker's competency on this topic is due to expire and a refresher is scheduled
- A near miss, spill pattern or seasonal change (ice, wet weather, a wash-down routine) makes the existing content newly relevant
- A supervisor is running a scheduled toolbox talk cycle and this is the topic due
- A site audit or inspection has flagged slip, trip or fall exposure as a live concern and a refresher briefing is the immediate response
Do not use it for
- Line of Fire Talk, which covers positioning relative to moving equipment, loads and stored energy, not walking-surface hazards
- Manual Handling Talk, which covers lifting, carrying and handling aids
- Hand Safety Talk, which covers cuts, crushes and pinch points to the hands
- Housekeeping Talk, which is the broader tidiness and storage topic that overlaps with but is not identical to slip and trip control
- The site risk assessment for walking surfaces, which is the instrument that should be identifying and rating the hazards this talk merely summarises
Compliance mapping
Which ISO 45001 cl.7.4 requirements does this satisfy?
Slip, trip and fall talks sit under the communication and awareness clauses of ISO 45001, and under general training duties in most national regimes. Nothing prescribes the talk's format; what is examined is whether it reached the right people and whether they understood it.
| Clause | Requirement | Where it lands |
|---|---|---|
| ISO 45001 cl.7.4.2 | Internal communication of relevant OH&S information to workers, including changes affecting hazards | Content |
| ISO 45001 cl.7.3 | Workers made aware of hazards and the consequences of not conforming, and of their contribution to effectiveness | Knowledge check |
| ISO 45001 cl.7.2 | Competence of persons doing work affecting OH&S performance, including those delivering training | Header |
| ISO 45001 cl.5.4 | Consultation and participation of workers, including a mechanism for raising concerns and hazards | Discussion |
| ISO 45001 cl.10.2 | Incidents examined and lessons communicated back to the workforce | Discussion |
| ISO 45001 cl.9.1.1 | Monitoring and measurement of the effectiveness of communication and training activity | Record |
| OSHA 1910.22(a) | Walking-working surfaces kept clean, orderly and free of recognised slip, trip and fall hazards | Content |
What it does not cover
- The site risk assessment for walking surfaces, which identifies and rates the specific hazards this talk can only summarise for a general audience.
- An incident investigation, which establishes root cause after a fall and belongs in the incident record, not a talk delivered before or after it.
- A competency assessment or sign-off, which certifies someone can perform a task safely; a knowledge check here only samples understanding of one talk.
- A housekeeping inspection, which finds and closes the actual spill, trailing hose or worn matting a talk can only warn people about in general terms.
- Manual Handling Talk or Hand Safety Talk, which cover different hazard families and should not substitute where the real exposure is lifting or a hand injury.
Global
Slips Trips and Falls Talk requirements by country
The duty to inform and train on walking-surface hazards is close to universal. What differs is how strictly comprehension, not just attendance, is examined.
OSHA 1910.22 (walking-working surfaces); OSH Act General Duty Clause
No mandated toolbox talk format, but training and hazard communication obligations attach to the underlying standard.
A worker exposed to an unaddressed slip hazard is evidence against the employer regardless of whether a talk record exists.
Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, regs.10 and 13; Health and Safety (Consultation with Employees) Regulations 1996
Duty to provide comprehensible information and adequate training, and to consult employees on health and safety matters.
A talk delivered in a language a worker does not follow, or without a route for raising concerns, fails the duty even where attendance is recorded.
ISO 45001 cl.7.3 and cl.7.4
Awareness and communication are certifiable requirements with defined evidence expectations.
Auditors sample knowledge check outcomes and how absentees were handled, not just whether an attendance sheet exists.
How to complete it
How to complete a slips trips and falls talk, step by step
The template prompts for content, attendance and a knowledge check. What decides whether the record is defensible is judgement the template cannot force.
The content fields exist to hold this site's own photographs and video, not a stock library deck. A talk illustrated with someone else's floor teaches a general concept and misses the specific area or worn surface that actually produces incidents here.
A pass recorded without the assessor actually listening verifies nothing. The question on where wet floor signs are kept in the worker's own area is deliberately site-specific; a correct answer there outweighs one on the general spill question.
Recording who attended is the easy half of the record. Absentees Listed and Catch Up Session Scheduled exist because a talk reaching ninety percent of the crew leaves the other ten percent, often newest starters or a different shift, exposed to exactly the hazard it addressed.
Discussion captures concerns raised, but a concern left in the talk record is not the same as a hazard report actioned. Where a concern points to a live hazard, it needs a Hazard Case ID, not just a note that someone mentioned it.
What auditors find
Most common slips trips and falls talk findings
The talk record almost always exists and is almost always signed. The findings concern whether the content, the checking and the follow-up were real.
| Finding | Clause | What fixes it |
|---|---|---|
| Knowledge check answers marked correct without the assessor confirming what was actually said. | ISO 45001 cl.7.3 | Require the assessor to note the actual answer given for the site-specific question, not just a correct/incorrect tick. |
| Talk delivered by a subject expert not trainer-trained, with no scripted content to check against. | ISO 45001 cl.7.2 | Pair a non-trainer-trained subject expert with a scripted talk sheet or a trained co-facilitator. |
| Language Understood recorded as Partly or No with Follow Up Needed left blank or closed as Not needed. | ISO 45001 cl.7.4.2 | Route any Partly or No answer to a mandatory follow-up session in a language the worker actually understands. |
| Absentees not listed, so the population still exposed to the hazard cannot be identified from the record. | ISO 45001 cl.7.3 | Make Absentees Listed a hard requirement before the record can close, and link it to a scheduled catch-up. |
| Content shown is generic imagery, not this site's own hazard photographs as the help text specifies. | ISO 45001 cl.7.4.2 | Refresh site content whenever the hazard map changes, and reject records where content is unmodified from the library default. |
| Recent Incidents Discussed marked No despite an open case at the same site involving a slip or fall. | ISO 45001 cl.10.2 | Check the incident register for the site before the talk, and require the Case ID field where a live case exists. |
Case in point
Case in point: the talk that covered the floor and missed the ramp
A distribution site ran its slips, trips and falls talk every quarter using the same content: photographs of the filling area floor, a reminder about hose management, and a footwear tread check. Knowledge check answers matched the content, attendance ran above ninety percent, and on paper the talk was working.
A worker slipped on the loading dock ramp during a cold snap, where condensation had frozen on an uncovered section of concrete. The ramp had never appeared in the content, because the video the form's help text called for, filmed during a real shift on site, had actually been filmed indoors two years earlier at a different facility and never replaced. The talk was correct about the areas it covered and silent about the one that mattered that morning.
The template
The template, field by field
The form exactly as it installs. Every field, option, score and conditional rule is editable, and the links to other templates come with it.
6 sections
- Reference
- TRN-009
- Archetype
- Training
- Record ID
- TT-2026-000
- Scoring
- Attendance and check
- Direction
- High is good
- Singleton
- No
- Basis
- ISO 45001 cl.7.4
- Links
- Links Worker, Site
- Tags
- Toolbox talk, Safety
- Sections
- 6
- Fields
- 51
- Follow up fields
- 8
- Repeating sections
- 1
- Links out
- 6
Header
13 fieldsTalk ID*
Auto sequence. Format TT-2026-00000.
The record's own ID. Other templates point at this value.
Status*
Drives who this goes to next.
- Planned2 pts
- In progress2 pts
- Complete3 pts
- Deferred0 pts
- Open0 pts
- Closed3 pts
- Overdue0 pts
Date and Time*
Delivered By*
Site*
Site ID*
Format SITE-000.
Links to FDN-001 Site ID
Course
Course ID
Format CRS-000.
Links to FDN-007 Course ID
Delivery Method*
Duration Minutes*
Trainer Qualified*
- Yes3 pts
- Subject expert, not trainer trained1 pt
- No0 pts
Area
The area within the site.
Exact Location
Drop a pin for anything hard to find.
Content
3 fieldsWhere People Slip Here
Video of the three areas with the highest slip rates on this site, filmed during a real shift.
The Four Causes
Water on tiled floors, product spill near the filler, hoses across walkways, and worn footwear.
What Good Looks Like
Photographs of a correctly signed wet area, a coiled hose, and footwear with usable tread.
Discussion
6 fieldsRecent Incidents Discussed*
- Yes3 pts
- No1 pt
Case ID Discussed
Thread key
Concerns Raised*
- No3 pts
- Yes1 pt
Concern Detail
Hazard Report Raised
Hazard Case ID
Thread key
Attendance
Repeats8 fieldsAttendee*
Person ID*
Format PER-0000.
Links to FDN-003 Person ID
Attended Full Session*
- Yes3 pts
- Partly1 pt
- No0 pts
Language Understood*
A session delivered in a language somebody does not follow is attendance, not training.
- Yes3 pts
- Partly1 pt
- No0 pts
Participated
- Actively3 pts
- Some2 pts
- None1 pt
Understood The Content*
- Yes3 pts
- Partly1 pt
- No0 pts
Follow Up Needed
Attendee Signature*
Knowledge check
6 fieldsWhat do you do first when you find a spill*
- Correct3 pts
- Partly correct1 pt
- Incorrect0 pts
Where are the wet floor signs kept in your area*
- Correct3 pts
- Partly correct1 pt
- Incorrect0 pts
Who checks your footwear tread and how often*
- Correct3 pts
- Partly correct1 pt
- Incorrect0 pts
Score Percent*
Pass Mark Percent*
Passed*
- Yes3 pts
- No0 pts
Record
15 fieldsAttendees Expected*
Attendees Present*
Attendance Percent*
Absentees Listed*
Who missed it matters more than who attended. Catch up sessions start here.
- Yes3 pts
- No0 pts
Catch Up Session Scheduled
- Yes3 pts
- Not needed3 pts
- No0 pts
Training Record ID
Links to TRN-064 Record ID
Competency Matrix Updated*
- Yes3 pts
- No0 pts
Matrix ID
Links to TRN-020 Matrix ID
Next Refresher Due
Follow Up Action Required*
Raise the action record, then enter its reference here.
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Priority
- High0 pts
- Medium1 pt
- Low3 pts
CAPA ID
Format CAPA-2026-00000.
Links to FDN-014 CAPA ID
Action Owner
Supervisor*
Signature*
TRN-009 · record IDs look like TT-2026-000 · Links Worker, Site
Open in KnowellaRun it with agents
From a document you fill in to a programme that runs itself
The talk itself is short. What determines whether it worked is whether the content stayed current, absentees were caught up, and a concern raised in the room reached the record that owns it.
Holds the talk against the competency matrix, flags when site content has gone stale against the hazard map, and schedules catch-up sessions for absentees automatically.
Takes a concern or hazard report raised during the talk and turns it into a tracked hazard case rather than a note left in the training record.
Coordinates the talk cycle across sites, surfaces where knowledge check patterns suggest content needs refreshing, and holds every write for approval before it touches a record.
This template lives in KnowTrain — training and credentials. Induction, competency, toolbox talks, refreshers and expiry tracking.
Meet KnowTrain→Glossary
Slips Trips and Falls Talk definitions and key terms
- Toolbox talk
- A short, informal briefing delivered close to the point of work, aimed at one hazard topic, usually with a quick check of understanding.
- Walking-working surface
- Any surface, horizontal or otherwise, on which a person walks or works, including floors, ramps, platforms and stairs.
- Near miss
- An event that could have caused harm but did not, often the earliest evidence that a talk's content needs updating.
- Competency matrix
- A register mapping who is trained on what and when a refresher is due, used to schedule talks against expiry rather than a fixed calendar.
- Pass mark
- The minimum knowledge check score treated as evidence of understanding; set too low, it certifies attendance, not comprehension.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about slips trips and falls talk
Does a toolbox talk satisfy the duty to train workers on slip and fall hazards?+
Partly. It satisfies an awareness and communication duty if the content is accurate, site-specific and actually checked. It does not satisfy a duty to assess the hazard, which belongs to the site risk assessment, or a duty to fix it, which belongs to a housekeeping or maintenance action.
How do we know the talk actually changed anything?+
Not from the attendance count. The knowledge check, honestly assessed, and a falling trend in slip and trip near misses are the two signals worth trusting. Attendance with no change in incident pattern usually means the content stopped being relevant some time ago.
What do we do about a worker who doesn't understand the language it's delivered in?+
Treat the talk as not delivered to that person. Record Language Understood accurately, and schedule a follow-up in a language they actually understand rather than closing the record with a Partly or No left unaddressed.
How often should this talk repeat?+
On the competency matrix's schedule, not a fixed calendar alone. A seasonal change, spill pattern, near miss or new joiner should each independently trigger the talk, alongside whatever refresher interval is set.
Who should deliver it?+
A trainer-trained supervisor familiar with the site is the strongest option. A subject expert not trained to deliver a talk should be paired with a script or co-facilitator, because hazard expertise does not reliably translate into checking whether the audience understood it.
What happens to people who missed the talk?+
They should be identifiable from the record and scheduled for a catch-up, not simply absent from the count. A talk tracking only who attended has no way to show who remains untrained on the topic.
Keep going
Related templates and programmes
Industries this is written for
Programmes this belongs to
Used together in Training Delivery and Effectiveness
Course Catalog
Lists every training course available, with its length, validity period and who needs it
Manual Handling Talk
A short talk on lifting, carrying and using handling aids
Line of Fire Talk
A short talk on staying out of the path of moving equipment, loads and stored energy
Hand Safety Talk
A short talk on protecting hands from cuts, crushes and pinch points
Housekeeping Talk
A short talk on keeping work areas clear, clean and organised
Forklift Pedestrian Safety Talk
A short talk on how pedestrians and powered vehicles share space safely
More in Toolbox Talks
Manual Handling Talk
A short talk on lifting, carrying and using handling aids
Line of Fire Talk
A short talk on staying out of the path of moving equipment, loads and stored energy
Hand Safety Talk
A short talk on protecting hands from cuts, crushes and pinch points
Housekeeping Talk
A short talk on keeping work areas clear, clean and organised
Forklift Pedestrian Safety Talk
A short talk on how pedestrians and powered vehicles share space safely
PPE Use Talk
A short talk on wearing, checking and caring for protective equipment
Written and reviewed by
Siddarth Singh
Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Knowella
Certified Safety Professional and industrial and systems engineer with more than a decade inside food supply chain, freight and manufacturing operations. This page was written against the current text of the standards it cites, not against secondary summaries of them.
- Certified Safety Professional (CSP), Board of Certified Safety Professionals
- MBA, University of Chicago Booth School of Business
- MS and BS, The Ohio State University, Industrial and Systems Engineering
- Six Sigma Black Belt
Sources and last review. Reviewed 16 August 2026 against:
- ISO 45001:2018 clauses 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, 5.4, 9.1.1 and 10.2
- OSHA 29 CFR 1910.22 — Walking-working surfaces, general requirements
- Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, regulations 10 and 13 (GB)
- Health and Safety (Consultation with Employees) Regulations 1996 (GB)
This page is general guidance, not legal advice. Confirm requirements with your jurisdiction’s regulator.