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Slippery floors pose a serious hazard to staff and visitors alike, with slips and trips accounting for over a third of all reported major injuries and 95% of major slips resulting in broken bones. The need for a formal risk assessment of slippery floors is often overlooked, though this is rapidly changing as more and more personal injury claims are raised. Biased slip testing is sometimes used as a tool to sell unnecessary anti-slip flooring, the reality is that the risk of slips occurring can often be significantly reduced with simple and inexpensive controls. The following is based on our extensive experience of slip risk assessment and HSE guidance on the mitigation of slip risk. 1) Identify slippery floor surfaces The first step in reducing slip risk is to identify areas which pose a risk to users. Many of our clients employ our services to benchmark the different types of floor surface within their responsibility, providing evidence of safe flooring and highlighting any non-compliant surfaces. If budget will not permit as thorough an approach, marking the location of recorded slips in the last year on a sketched map of the area is a good start. Talk to the regular users of the area to ascertain whether any near misses have occurred or if the floor feels slippery in certain circumstances. Mapping slips in this way should quickly highlight any surfaces requiring a more in depth assessment.
2) Prevent contamination of the surface The vast majority of slips occur on contaminated surfaces. All surfaces we have tested, with the exception of one, have provided a safe level of grip in clean and dry conditions. The drop in grip in contaminated conditions is due to the contaminant forming a barrier between sole and floor. It should be noted that contamination is not necessarily wet; dust, swarf or polythene will all reduce available friction. Water based contamination is the most common, reaching the surface on wet soles/clothes/accessories, during cleaning, from condensation, vehicle tyres, spilled drinks or blown rain. A simple change to the work process may eliminate contamination; otherwise consider other steps such as fixing leaks on offending machinery, or fitting a canopy over external doorways.
3) Reduce the impact of contamination It is not always possible to prevent contamination of the flooring. If contamination is inevitable then it is a requirement of UK law that reasonably practicable steps are taken to minimise its impact on users of the surface. If you know a surface is slippery when wet and you cannot reliably keep it dry in end use you would have a very difficult time convincing the court that you had fulfilled your duty of care to provide a safe surface. It should be considered that whilst replacement of a floor is the last resort, an effective anti-slip treatment is a reasonably practical measure that could be taken to avoid exposing staff/visitors to an undue risk of slipping. Again, regular users of the area should be consulted in order to ascertain the real function of the space versus its intended function. If a change to the work process can reliably control contamination it is a worthwhile step. Staff should be encouraged to adopt a ‘see it, sort it’ attitude to contamination. Cleaning plays a vital role in the management of contamination. The cleaning regime should be effective at removing ingrained dirt so the surface profile does not become clogged and its anti-slip properties reduced. The correct amount of cleaning chemical is vital as a residue left on the surface is likely to increase slip risk. It should not be ignored that cleaning a floor leaves it contaminated for a period of time. Wet mopping spreads a thin film of water across the surface that relies on convection to dry. Dry mopping reduces drying time but does not leave the surface dry. Only a tiny amount of water is needed to form the hydrodynamic squeeze film that reduces grip. For busy areas consider spot cleaning and conduct a full clean after hours, restricting access to all wet surfaces. Effective anti-slip footwear can further protect cleaning staff from slips, but as personal protective equipment should be considered the "last line of defence" rather than a cure-all.
4) Consider environmental factors Lighting should be such that any contamination on the floor should be easily visible. Bright lights and highly polished floors tend to produce glare, hiding contamination. Conversely, dimly lit areas deny users the opportunity to avoid contaminated areas. If users know the surface is slippery they are likely to adjust their gait accordingly and are less likely to fall. Weather born contamination poses a risk as a surface which provides good grip in the dry can become unexpectedly slippery in the rain. External doorways should be protected with a canopy and effective entrance matting stretching to several steps into the building will help reduce water ingress. During heavy rain the matting may become saturated, in which case temporary matting may be a good option provided it doesn’t become creased, posing a trip hazard. It should be noted that even the most efficient entrance management is unlikely to prevent contamination of the internal floor surface from water dripping off wet clothes, accessories, or even directly on shoe soles. If it is not possible to reliably keep the internal floor surface dry then it must provide a safe level of grip in the wet.
5) Assess the suitability of flooring If contamination of the surface cannot be reliably prevented then the surface must provide a safe level of grip in contaminated conditions. Grip Potential specialise in expert independent assessment of slip risk and can produce a report detailing the risk posed by surfaces, wether this is acceptable and advice on how to reduce risk. Activities such as pushing, pulling or carrying heavy loads increases the frictional demand of the user on the floor surface. If users include the very young, old or those with reduced agility then it is imperative that the surface is safe to walk on. In the majority of cases slip resistance can be significantly increased with a thorough deep clean. Deep cleaning often removes dirt clogging the surface profile, increasing surface roughness and the ability to puncture the fluid layer separating sole from floor. This should be considered as a first option and if found to be effective incorporated into the cleaning regime on a periodic basis. We have conducted tests on specialist cleaning products that have taken surfaces from a high slip risk 14PTV (wet) to a comfortably low slip risk 56PTV (wet). A wide range of surface treatments of are available, varying in effectiveness. When employing a surface treatment you should have the surface tested and certified on completion, ensuring you have documented evidence that the surface provides a safe level of grip. You might be surprised how many times we have been asked to verify an anti-slip treatment to find it has been wholly ineffective. Our impartial nature makes us popular with flooring contractor and end user alike for these projects. In rare cases the only realistic way to reduce slip risk to safe levels is to replace the floor surface itself. Care should be taken when specifying the replacement surface to ensure it meets and will continue to meet the frictional demands of users. The HSE classify a result of 36 or above when tested to BS 7976 “The Pendulum Method” as a low risk of slip. Your supplier should be able to provide slip resistance results, however results from tests such as DIN51130, DIN51097 or proprietary test methods should be treated with great trepidation. Bear in mind that should the unfortunate occur it is likely that the BS 7976 Pendulum test will be the one that goes to court. Grip Potential can provide independent testing of samples to BS 7976 in house inexpensively and with a quick turnaround.
6) Provide slip resistant footwear If a slippery surface in end use cannot be avoided by any reasonably practical means then effective anti-slip footwear should be implemented. It is important that the footwear provides adequate grip in the conditions that they will be used. Whilst manufacturers brochure’s may claim anything from ‘increased grip’ to ‘excellent multi-directional slip resistance’ it is important to consider slip resistance as tested to BS EN 13287 (usually using SATRA TM 144). Ultimately it is the slip resistance in end use with likely contaminants that will determine effectiveness. A trial should be implemented with a range of footwear for a range of applications across a range of contaminants to select effective soles. Consider the feedback offered by test users, if shoes are unpopular alternatives should be considered, though a compromise on comfort, durability and safety may be required. Footwear profiles will need to be kept free from debris to ensure continued slip resistance. Consider work processes and placement of boot cleaning facilities to ensure soles remain at their optimum.
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