How to help prevent falls

Explore ways in which you can make your property safe and help prevent falls.

Falls on stairs

All internal and external stairs should be safe. Falls on stairs can result in serious physical injury or be fatal, especially for elderly tenants.

To reduce the risk of falls on stairs landlords should:

• Check that stairs are even and in good condition, and ensure any covering is securely fitted.
• Use carpet on stairs to reduce the severity of injury if a fall occurs.
• Ensure comfortable and safe handrails are fitted. See this handy guide for installing handrails (checkatrade.com).
• Install good lighting at the bottom and top of the stairs. Light switches must be installed at both the bottom and top of the stairs.
• Avoid adding furniture or structures at the bottom of the stairs to reduce the risk of injury. 

Falls between levels

To reduce the risk of falls from windows, falls from landings or other heights ensure that:

• Bannister spindle gaps should not exceed 100mm in order to safeguard young children.
• Avoid ‘Ranch’ style bannisters, which use large horizontal slats that may be climbed by young children.
• All windows on or above the first floor in your property should have restrictors fitted. Some windows have built-in restrictors, while others need them installed separately, so check to see if your windows are compliant.

Falls on level surfaces

Falls that cause injury can happen on internal floors, yards, paths and ramps. Uneven floors or loose carpet can be deemed a hazard during an HHSRS inspection. Check floor coverings are level and secured, and that gutters are regularly maintained to prevent excess water causing a slip hazard on external walkways.