How to Test Your Slippery Floors

For commercial operations and public spaces, the safety of employees, customers and the general public should be a top priority. Most people recognise that slippery floors can be a hazard in themselves, and the danger worsens when combined with running, wet conditions or other spills, and uneven surfaces. The question is how best to test the slipperiness of your floor before determining whether you need a premium anti slip floor treatment product.

There are a wide number of testing methods that are in popular use, and which is most suitable will vary according to the specific conditions that your floor is expected to experience. However, it should always be kept in mind that no one test will give the full picture, and a combination of at least two, but probably more like three or four should be utilised. There are four common categories of testing that will be covered here.

The first is from Appendix A, and is called the wet pendulum test. This test is appropriate for all outdoor areas, as well as any indoor areas which are reasonably likely to come into contact with moisture. This device was first developed to test the condition of wet road surfaces, but has now been adopted for pedestrian application. This test involves spraying the surface with water, and then swinging a spring loaded weight in an arc which glides across the floor and up the other side. The height is measured and the average of the last three of five swings tells the reader how slippery the floor is. The wet pendulum test has the distinct advantage of being able to be carried out insitu, rather than having to remove the flooring to test it. Over time, it is inevitable that the surface of any material in a high foot traffic area will slowly change. Repeated performance of this test will allow the concerned party to monitor the changing slipperiness over time, and plan ahead to prevent future incidents.

Next is the dry floor friction test from Appendix B. As the only dry surface test, this one is essential for areas such as inside shopping centres and offices, and would be well paired with other wet tests for outdoor areas. This method involves using a specialised Torus device, which self-propels along the floor. The machine determines the force required to pull a rubber strip along the floor at a constant speed. The process is repeated in a perpendicular direction, and the average of the two measurements is found.

The wet barefoot test comes from Appendix C, and the oil ramp test from Appendix D. These are both two more wet tests, but the difference is that these can only be performed in the laboratory, and so the process cannot be performed on existing floors. The former is appropriate for typically barefoot wet areas such as showers, swimming pools and beachside public spaces. The latter is appropriate for industrial areas which may come into contact with oil or grease, as well as drainage gutters and grates.

For these ramp tests, the floor in question is set at an incline, and an experimenter determines the angle at which it is no longer possible or safe to walk on. Any outdoor ramp, or indoor ramp in contact with water or oils, must undergo and pass this test before being installed. It should be noted that these ‘ramp’ tests are not only for surfaces intended for use as a ramp, but can be for flat surfaces too. The ramp term originates from the method of testing which uses an incline.

If you discover that your flooring is underperforming, then talk to the helpful anti slip floor treatment specialists at Step Solve at http://stepsolve.com.au/.

Use a Floor Treatment For Retirement Villages

Retirement villages or private care homes are places in which the elderly live when they need a higher level of care and protection. For this reason, it is absolutely essential that a regular anti slip floor treatment is applied and maintained.

 

While retirement homes offer a higher level of care, in most cases there are residents who do not receive full time care. There will be times when there is no one to supervise, and this means that the environment must be as safe as possible to minimise any risks. Precautions such as anti slip floor treatment can maximise safety while maintaining some level of independence for residents.

Elderly citizens are prone to falls more than the average person. This is due to a combination of reasons, including reduction in eyesight, mobility and reaction time. Furthermore, when they do fall, their bones are more brittle and thus will likely be more affected by the consequences. This makes it doubly important to protect from falls. Every year, one in three older people (aged 65 or over) has a fall. This statistic includes major and minor incidences, but to put it in perspective, falls are the leading cause of both fatal and non-fatal injuries in older Australians. In 2013, over 25,000 older adults passed away either directly after or from complications arising from an accidental fall.

Minimising falls is obviously of great concern to retirement homes in protecting the interests of their residents; however it has more far reaching benefits. The ageing population has increased strain on the health system, and falls alone account for a huge investment. In 2013, 34 billion dollars in medical costs was spent in direct response to elderly falls.

Anti slip treatments can be applied on a range of surfaces, such as laminate flooring in corridors and tiles and ceramic in bathrooms. These floor surfaces are popular in these aged care facilities because of their practicality in terms of being easy to clean and move around on. However, without the cushioning of say, carpet, falls that do happen will be met with a smack rather than a just a bump.

Retirement homes concerned for their residents’ welfare, or those which have experienced a high level of injury reporting, should combine several strategies to improve safety. A anti slip floor treatment applied by a professional should be sought in conjunction with regular resident optometrist assessments, installation of grab bars and panic buttons, and evaluation of lighting effectiveness. Of course, a kitchen and catering service which targets bone strength is highly advised, in particular serving plenty of calcium, vitamin D and supplements. If problems persist, it is advisable to review all resident medications, as sometimes certain pills or a combination of medicines can cause side effects such as dizziness and light headedness.

Anti slip floor treatments boast a great reduction in slipperiness in both wet and dry conditions. The surface will offer more grip to anything it comes into contact with, such as walkers, wheels and shoes. It can improve safety not only for residents, but also for staff members who might be rushing or lose their concentration for a second. Step Solve offers a comprehensive professional treatment service, as well as a number of other safety features such as stair tread and tactile indicators which may be suitable for use around the aged care property. If you would like to dramatically improve the safety conditions for those under your care, please contact the reliable team at Step Solve at http://stepsolve.com.au/ which would be glad to discuss our successful anti slip floor treatment service with you.

Never Worry About OH&S for Your Hospital Floors Again

There is a reliable and affordable anti slip floor treatment available that greatly minimises slipping hazards. In the medical workplace setting, it is especially important to take extra precautions when it comes to safety. Hospitals are places of protection and security, and so it is crucial that employees, patients and visitors feel at ease.
 

In order to maintain a sterile environment as much as possible, hospital floors are often made of laminate or tiling. These smooth surfaces make cleaning easy, however one of their potential downsides is that they can reduce grip, meaning the falls and slips can happen. After mopping or spills, the situation is especially dangerous. Furthermore, doctors and nurses are forever rushing trying to assist the needy, and so accidents can happen. All it takes is to lose concentration for a minute. With sharp instruments surrounding the weak and injured, a fall is something to be avoided at all costs.

Warning people to slow down and be careful can only go so far, and it is highly recommended that extra precautions are taken to minimise risk wherever possible. Unfortunately, one of the common snit slip treatments is not designed to last over long periods of time. Many common brands are designed to be a protective barrier layer, but will eventually be prone to peeling off. Not only does this peeling obviously minimise the effectiveness of the product, but the uneven floor surface can create a new hazard in itself.

The solution is not to add a layer of anti slip material, but rather to attack the cause of the problem, which is the texture of the tile surface. Now, more modern anti slip treatments have been developed which address all the problems encountered by layer treatments. These new treatments contain a chemical that slowly reacts with the surface of the tile or flooring, actually making it permanently less slippery. There is no residue left over as there can be with the layer treatments, as it works by applying the formula, leaving it for a period of time before washing it off after the reaction is complete.

Only occasional maintenance is required to ensure that this treatment lasts for years and years. Better yet, the original process as well as maintenance work can be completed in a very short space of time, and people can walk on the surface safely again as soon as it has been washed. In a busy hospital setting there is no time for lengthy procedures that take time and space.

Better yet, the treatment lasts especially well if the surface is cleaned regularly. Of course in a hospital setting, cleaning is a top priority. Even under areas of high wear, such as corridors and foyers, the treatment is guaranteed to last for at least five years. While the treatment is primarily designed for minimising slips in dry conditions, it has also proven highly effective in wet conditions as an added bonus. In fact, studies show up to a 75% reduction in slipperiness when moisture is present. There is no doubt that wet conditions are when the majority of accidents occur, so this is an overwhelming advantage.

This chemical treatment is 100% safe for use in medical environments such as hospitals and clinics, and in fact has proven to minimise the build-up of bacteria. Trained professionals will meticulously apply the product in a timely manner to ensure that there is minimal inconvenience, all at a remarkably competitive rate. Please contact Step Solve at http://stepsolve.com.au/ to get in touch about the highly effective anti slip floor treatment range.

Are You looking for Anti Slip Floor Treatment?

Safety is one important measure that you cannot ignore at any point of time for you and your dear ones. Anti slip floor treatment is a way to make any walk-ways slip resistance so anyone cannot get hurt or any casualty cannot occur. Normally floors made of different tiles are not well goes with slip resistance and it is necessary to give your home or office or any structure anti slip floor treatment to prevent any kind of unwanted accident.

Satisfactory slip resistance of floor blankets is an essential for walking or doing any work on floor. The rate of slips and falls, then again, shows that deficient slip resistance is an issue regularly emerging by and by. Poor slip resistance can be an outcome of deficient floor material and floor properties, or it can be brought about by wear and support. Different medicines and items are industrially accessible to enhance or restore the slip resistance of dangerous floors. The estimations of slip resistance demonstrated that slip coatings at first enhanced the slip resistance before bit by bit losing their constructive outcome, regularly with a half-life time of around 3 months.

Security coatings and also slip-safe glue tapes expanded the slip resistance successfully and turned out to be moderately tough, albeit being influenced by noteworthy mechanical wear. But it is important to understand that these anti slip floor treatments are not durable for a long time and you need to be assured about your flooring to be anti slip resistance at regular interval of time. Normally on monthly basis slip resistance of flooring can be checked if any chemical is used to make the floor slip resistance and it is necessary to those areas where you can see lot of people everyday like hospitals, shopping malls, schools and colleges, or other packed places from people. So it is really important to know some facts and figures about anti slip floor treatment.

How to do anti slip floor treatment:

• Normally floors made of ceramic are given acid etching technique that increases the floor roughness and make it safer for any passerby.
• Floors that are wet have much chance to get slippery so the only way to make the floor slip resistance by drying it.
• Sometimes dry floor treatments also help prevent people slipping and get hurt.
• In the market, you can find various products under anti slip floor treatment categories that state to make your floor slip resistance. You can use those products also.
• Many times if you use floor covering like flooring mats, it helps to make your floor high slip resistance and that is much cheaper and safer than any synthetic products or chemicals you buy for floor slip treatment.

However, whatever your choice of the way to do anti slip floor treatment, it is a must because it helps make people safe from slip and also sometimes it enhances the look of your place especially when you are using decorated floor mats or you apply deodorizers for your floor