What Is Floor Slip Resistance Testing? Why Is It Important?
Most individuals are unaware of the notion of testing for slip resistance. However, everyone who works in the building industry, including building managers, architects, contractors, and cleaning services, need to be acquainted with this term.
It is essential to test for slipperiness since it can cause serious injuries to pedestrians who are not paying attention. In addition, this examination is helpful in several other settings, including restaurant kitchens and factories, which often use oils and lubricants.
This article will explain the meaning of “skid resistance testing” and why and who should participate in such evaluations.
What is the need for it?
If someone trips and falls on your property, you must demonstrate that you took all reasonable precautions to avoid such an accident. In addition, before the locations in question may be utilized, there has to be evidence that every possible precaution was taken to ensure that they are safe for workers and members of the general public.
In most nations, the law makes it quite obvious who is accountable for an accident when one occurs. Companies owe it to their workforce and clientele to take reasonable precautions to protect their safety. If the corporation acted carelessly, it might be held legally accountable in a civil or criminal capacity.
Before they can demonstrate that they comply with safety regulations, businesses need to have the slip resistance of their flooring tested. If the floors do not meet the requirements, we will have to take action to restore the safety ratings to where they should be.
If a company hasn’t done a risk assessment or assessed the floors in its building, they are acting irresponsibly, and if they are sued for slip-and-fall accidents, it might end up paying a significant amount of money to settle the case.
Why is it important to do frequent inspections of floors and other surfaces?
The owner or management of a place of business or public area is responsible for ensuring that those present there are kept safe. They need to make sure that the locations are secure before going there. Imagine that one of your workers spills a liter of oil on the floor and then waits a few minutes before cleaning it up.
What would happen? Even if the spill location is cordoned off and people have been warned not to go on the floor, he doesn’t bother to check any of those things. If another person, either a client or an employee, were to fall while they were in the area, the employee would be held accountable for their carelessness and responsibility.
This individual faces the possibility of being sued, terminated, or brought to court due to their reckless behavior in a criminal matter. A similar issue arises when discussing proprietors and those in charge of managing facilities. They need to ensure that their flooring is risk-free, that any potentially hazardous areas are appropriately labeled, or that the flooring is altered appropriately.
If you want to prevent people from slipping and falling at any location or institution, one essential method is to make sure they know what to do. For example, you first need to determine whether or not the flooring in your home is slick and provides a potential risk.
If you discover that the flooring does not conform to the appropriate requirements, you need to take the necessary precautions to reduce the potential dangers. Then you should conduct tests regularly to guarantee that the new standard is maintained.
This leads us to the primary reason why floor slip resistance testing is carried out: to ensure that all floor surfaces have sufficient grip to allow normal usage without the risk of injury. If you have not had your flooring tested for slip resistance and a worker or member of the public falls on them, you run the risk of being taken to court and having to pay a significant amount of money in damages.
Which types of floor coverings need an assessment?
In principle, testing must regularly be carried out on any flooring that may pose a threat. In hotels and other public cloakrooms, the bathing and showering supplies are also put through a battery of tests.
Due to the buildup of impurities, continued use may cause a surface that is meant to be non-slip, like wood, to become less traction-friendly over time. Chemical surface treatments are often used to treat shower trays and bathrooms because they enhance traction and friction and do not distract from the aesthetics of the area in which they are applied.
Conclusion
Slip resistance testing is very important for the owner, manager, architect, specifier, or installer of a building and anyone else who could be responsible for an accident. It is up to all of you to make sure that these materials have been checked out and are safe for anyone to walk on. It is your job to ensure that innocent people don’t get hurt by ensuring that each floor can’t be slipped on.
