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The Low-down On Slippery Floors

What you need to know when you upgrade your flooring

We took a straw poll of non Health & Safety focused friends and colleagues to try to answer the question: "What do you need to know when you upgrade your flooring"?
The answers in our unempirical study were:

  • How nice does it look?
  • How long lasting is the chosen material?
  • How hard wearing is it going to be?
  • How expensive is it per square metre?

Perhaps not surprisingly, the slip resistance did not immediately come to the fore.
However, if you're spending large sums of money on replacing your company's flooring, or you are project managing a new build, then this is a very important area to get right first time.

Slip Resistance Testing of Floor and Paving Surfaces


"Why would I care"?
Well, apart from the fact that your colleagues might not be too pleased if they find themselves slipping and sliding around on the beautiful new flooring, there is a duty of care upon flooring designers, manufacturers, distributors, installers, contractors, and on the architects who specify flooring products.
Flooring surfaces must be 'fit for purpose' and not pose a safety risk.
In the last 4 years HSE statistics show that each year over 10,000 people suffer a "major" accident through slips and trips.
How many of these were caused by the floor surface is not defined, but we are of the opinion that the percentage will be significant.


Slip Resistance

One of the key components of safety is defining how slippery the floor is. This is known as its 'slip resistance'. In fact, The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 stipulate that floors must not be slippery so that they put people's safety at risk.


"My floors have been down for a while. What should I be considering as part of my ongoing risk assessments"?

Testing of floors and surfaces in situ can identify a significant number of factors that can influence the skid slip performance of flooring materials.
For example, cleaning regimes, maintenance, integrity of substrate, wearing or weathering of the flooring surface, presence of any sealants on the surface of the floor and trafficking pattern can all affect significantly the performance of flooring materials.


What sort of testing is available?

There is a choice of 2 testing methods to gauge the slip resistance of flooring.
Pendulum slip testing or ramp slip testing is used, dependent on the type of material used for the flooring, its surface profile and the environment in which the tile is being used.


Pendulum Test

The Pendulum Test is the preferred method of both the HSE and the UKSRG (UK Slip Resistance Group - yes, there really is such a group!). It is designed to simulate the action of a slipping foot. It can be used both on site and in the laboratory.
Standards that use the pendulum slip test include BS 7976 (used for pedestrian surfaces), EN 1341 (for external paving) and EN 14231 (natural stone modular tiles).


Ramp Test

The Ramp Test is split into DIN 51130 Shod and DIN 51097 Barefoot. This method of testing slip resistance involves test subjects wearing standard soled boots (shod) on an oily floor surface or barefoot on a wet 'soapy' floor surface; the floor is then inclined gradually until they slip.
The ramp test is useful for measuring slip resistance in industrial areas and in wet areas, such as swimming pools.
The slip resistance tests can be supported by sophisticated roughness and surface profile analysis and by expert consultation.


Steering Clear Of The Millions Of Pounds In Claims Each Year...

Apart from the pain and suffering they cause, injuries from slippery or defective floors amount to thousands of work days lost every year and millions of pounds paid in compensation and out-of-court settlements.


...With Guidance And Support From Ark

For guidance on slip resistance and assessments, you can discuss your situation with an Ark consultant who’ll help you through this and the many other issues you need to consider when you make changes to your workplace.
Top brand clients work with Ark Workplace Risk to optimise their control and management of risk, so they can save cost and get on with their business.
Your life made easier: whether you need a competent consultant to lead you through the complexity of the legislation, or you simply want to have risk assessments carried out for you, just use the easy form below or call us on +44 (0) 20 7397 1450.