Staff and students at Darlington College's state-of-the-art premises are putting safety first for the benefit of everyone on site.

The college, on the £35 million Haughton Road campus, has always put safety first and is now supporting the Health and Safety Executive's (HSE) "Shattered Lives" campaign which aims to reduce slips, trips and falls in the workplace.

Slips and trips are the most common cause of major workplace injury in Britain and resulted in at least 4,000 working days being lost in the North East last year. In the education sector alone there were almost 2,000 slips and trips - one resulting in a fatality, more than 1,000 causing major injuries and almost 1,500 that led to the person being off work for three days or more.

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Darlington College has already taken steps to avoid slips and trips in its joinery, brickwork, plastering, plumbing and motor vehicle training areas and kitchen areas with risk assessments to identify areas of concern and the introduction of safety footwear in these areas.

Viewing bays have been introduced in construction training areas to allow visitors to view workshops safely and induction packs have been created for staff and students covering housekeeping and personal protective equipment.

Darlington College has backed the campaign and invited David Cole, HSE Principal Inspector for the North East, to find out how the college is already tackling the issue.

Mr Cole said: "It's great that Darlington College is backing the campaign and is helping its employees and students understand and control the potential for slips, trips and falls to happen.

"Slips, trips and falls might sound comical, even trivial, but they shatter the lives of thousands of British workers ever year.

"Making improvements doesn't need to cost the earth and we are encouraging people to visit the Shattered Lives website, where they will be able to get simple and cost effective solutions to help manage slips, trips and falls hazards in their workplace."

(CD/GK)