23/12/11

Pendulum Test Is Worth Its Weight In Gold

Even though companies have enough to be thinking about with profits and loss elements and reaching new customers, the more day to day, mundane stuff is also important for a business to consider. Your business property and the people within the building or grounds are crucial for the running of an organisation and this means that they need to be looked after. People losing days through injury can hurt a firm’s production, effectiveness and it can hamper staff morale. This means that keeping staff happy and safe should be a major issue for all companies and using a pendulum test is just one step to keeping employees happy.

Even though the pendulum test is a very scientific approach to determining the integrity of flooring, its origins lie in a much more real-time situation. The movement of the pendulum replicates the movement of a slipping foot and given that the majority of work-based accidents are trips or slips, it is easy to see how this is relevant. Published figures indicate that slips and trips account for around 1 in 3 of all non-fatal injuries in the workplace. HSE statistics suggest that slips occur every 3 minutes in the British workforce so it is easy to see why this can have such an impact on a business.

In the winter, the chance of employees catching bugs and colds is higher but the chance of slippages occurring is also higher. This is due to the wintry weather conditions outside being brought in by employees, customers and guests. Your stylish and polished reception flooring may look pristine at the beginning of the day but once people come in from outside, the texture of the floor can become very different. Carrying out the pendulum test will allow a company to find out how safe their flooring is and whether it is likely to withstand the impact of wet weather conditions being trampled in from outside.

Some companies may think that placing mats or creating narrow pathways will help to minimise the risk of slips and trips but this is not necessarily the case. It is better to have the integrity of the floor examined as opposed to looking for workaround solutions which can often carry other damages. For example, a mat on a floor may be just as slippery as the floor itself depending on the friction between the two. This is where a pendulum test is the best solution because it will provide a firm with all of the information they need to act with safety at heart.

Given the nature of British weather, the wet conditions could last for a great time which means an unprepared firm may be putting itself and the people on its property at risk for a considerable amount of time. Failing to act will likely see a firm lose out financially and will also damage the reputation of the firm in the eyes of its employees and customers. Carrying out a pendulum test on your flooring is not the only thing a firm should do to promote safety, but it is an important element.

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Further information

Pendulum testing - Surface roughness - Slips Potential Model - Slip testing methods - HSE slips site - Grip Potential Ltd

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