Don't slip up on flooring
October 1st 2007

Safety in the workplace begins from the floor – literally. More than just something to walk over, good flooring needs to be considered as an important aid in achieving a safer working environment. Peter Drew of Flowcrete explains how to achieve a safe footing

Slips and trips are the most common cause of accidents in the workplace, according to the Health and Safety Executive. Every year, serious injuries occur because of inappropriate flooring choice yet they could be avoided.

The right floor finish can reduce the risk. Correctly specified, it gives the appropriate level of slip resistance for individual areas, yet can still be easy to clean. It can withstand hostile environments, such as those in the food industry where scalding hot water combines with chemicals, and resists penetration and contamination from oils and greases.

For best results, before a floor finish is installed, those in charge of a flooring project – new build or refurbishment – should carefully consider what the area will be used for right away and what might change over the coming years.

Points to consider include whether the floor will be subjected to water or other fluids such as in wet processing areas. According to the HSE, most slip injuries happen on wet floors, so care needs to be taken to reduce the risk of accident in these areas.

Call in the experts At this stage, manufacturers can be called in to help establish exactly what is needed to deliver a safe, hygienic surface.

Slip resistance in wet areas is usually achieved by introducing a coarser finish, often aggregate, to increase friction between floor and footwear and improve grip.

Effective use of drainage will also lessen risks in this type of environment by effectively removing fluid from the surface quickly and efficiently. Dry areas often have a lower requirement for slip resistance than wet areas and therefore smoother surface finishes can be used.

In wet areas, the need for a slip-resistant finish then needs to be balanced with the ability to clean the floor easily. The greater the slip-resistance, the more attention needs to be paid to the cleaning regime for the floor. A really coarse floor can be more difficult to clean, but modern flooring systems allow the surface texture to be fine-tuned to match the appropriate needs of localised requirements, enabling optimum levels of hygiene and slip-resistance.

Different floor finishes can withstand different cleaning regimes. For example, some floors can be steam cleaned, but others cannot. Problems arise if a floor finish cannot withstand a cleaning regime rigorous enough to maintain hygiene. If grease or other surface materials build-up, they are likely to cause a slip hazard, but shifting them is difficult if the floor cannot be cleaned at a high enough temperature to remove them.

Not only are greases and oils dangerous if left on the floor, but in the longer term they can damage the floor finish, creating another hazard with uneven surfaces and result in costly and disruptive emergency repairs.

Fortunately, floor finishes are available that can withstand the effects of chemicals, oils and steam cleaning without damage to the structure.

The amount of wear and tear a floor will be subjected to should also be considered. If the floor has to cope with wheeled traffic, but it is only designed to withstand light foot traffic, the finish will soon erode and become damaged – again creating an uneven surface.

Delivering value The design of the finish is not just limited to delivering safety underfoot. The floor can also help with wider health and safety issues. This can include using different colours to create working zones, such as identifying walkways areas, hazards and other zones. In the food industry, colour can be used to denote segregated areas such as raw foods, cooking bays and packaging for a safer working layout.

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