An office based employee tripped on uneven ground as he exited a portable cabin which had been temporarily located in a compound whilst refurbishment works were carried out to it, in preparation to it being taken to a project site. The trip caused a fracture to the right lateral malleolus.

1. Safety Bulletin;
Recordable Injury – GDF Suez Employee – broken Ankle
Description:
A Fabricom employee was exiting from a
portable cabin which had been temporarily
located in a Fabricom compound whilst
refurbishment works were carried out to it in
preparation to it being taken to a project site.
As he exited the cabin he tripped on the
uneven ground just outside the cabin door. The
trip caused a fracture to the right lateral
malleolus. (The lateral malleolus is the end of
the fibula bone of the leg). A walking boot has
been placed on the foot and the IP has to
return to hospital on Thursday 16th.
The incident occurred when the IP went into
the cabin to remove a small table As the IP
came out of the cabin he stepped on a
redundant telecoms cable, which caused his
foot to slide and go over the curb in front of
the doorway turning his ankle.
Reason / Immediate Cause:
The root cause of the incident was the poor
maintenance of overgrown vegetation within
the compound which camouflaged the curb.
Also the fact that works took place on
refurbishment of cabin without a thorough risk
assessment of the conditions.
Core reason / root cause:
Consideration of the ground conditions had not
been taken when first locating the cabin.
No individual identified the uneven ground /
partly obscured kerb as a potential trip hazard.
The I.P. was carry a small table which would
have limited his vision of the ground and
potentially restricted the foot placement as he
descend down from the step.
FOGAP Preventative actions:
Area around cabin door has been cleared and
temporary step put in place. The cabin is due
to be moved to site Tuesday 14th.
The vegetation needs to be cleared from all
areas around the curb in the compound, then
the curb needs to be painted intermittently
yellow to highlight this tripping hazard.
Details of the event to be communicated
across the organisation.
A specific toolbox talk on this incident to be
delivered to employees.
Bulletin No Date Severity Potential Likelihood of reoccurrence
FOGAP UK 77 09/07/2015 Reportable Injury Lost Time Injury POSSIBLE
The curb in front of the door where IP turned ankle.
This area in front of the door was covered with soil and
weeds which camouflaged the curb to the obvious trip
hazard.