The most recent American National Standards Institute (ANSI) dynamic coefficient of friction (DCOF) test method, A326.3 (April 2017), states that “hard surface flooring materials suitable for level interior spaces expected to be walked upon when wet with water shall have a wet DCOF of 0.42 or greater when tested … as per this standard.” The […]
Slip Prevention in Commercial Kitchens
Commercial kitchens are food production kitchens for businesses such as hotels, cruise ships, and restaurants. Unlike your home kitchen, there are more specialized pieces of equipment such as Sous vide machines, Ice cream makers, and industrial-grade deep fryers, grills and ovens. Another important difference is that these kitchens usually have more than one person involved […]
Great Female Alpinist Charlotte Fox, 61, Dies in Fall on Stairs at Home
Charlotte Fox, the first American woman to conquer three 26,000-foot or higher mountains and who miraculously survived a blizzard while descending after summiting Everest, has died at 61 after a fall on steep hardwood stairs at her Telluride, Colorado home. Her obituary was published by the New York Times on June 8. The Everest near-death […]
What’s the Cost of a Slip and Fall on a Commercial Property?
A recent article in Risk & Insurance (May 2018, p. 32) cites some data for costs of slip and fall claims. Claims can result in a sharp increase in insurance premiums. If the property is self-insured, costs can come directly off profit. Falls among adults are the most common cause of traumatic brain injury. Commercial […]
Tools Essential to Slip Resistance Testing
At Safety Direct America, not only do we specialize in expert floor and tile slip resistance testing both in the lab and in the field, we also offer the finest collection of slip test instruments to help you determine and monitor your slip risk effectively. National standards-setting organizations including ASTM, ANSI, BSI, ISO, and others […]
ASTM F2508 and the pendulum slip resistance tester
ASTM F2508 is based on a rigorous scientific study of 11 tribometers (or floor slip resistance test devices) that was held at the University of Southern California Medical Center. The peer-reviewed results were published in 2010 in the Journal of Forensic Sciences. Four tiles were tested with the 11 slip test devices, and later a […]
Odd But Useful Places for Anti-Slip Coatings
Whether you own a home or a business, a swimming pool, or a warehouse, there are lots of locations where a good anti-slip coating can be applied. After all, no one likes trying to get off the floor after a serious fall. What you might not have considered, however, are all the odd but useful […]
Test Your New Pool Deck’s Slip Resistance BEFORE Opening the Pool!
It is amazing how often both large and small swimming pool decks are installed with no thought to wet slip resistance until falls, sometimes catastrophic, begin to happen. By the time the first serious slip injury happens, the flooring vendor has usually cashed his check and is unconcerned about the problem. Wet bare feet have […]
DCOF Rating for Floors
The latest American slip test for floors is the DCOF rating test method specified in ANSI A326.3. Although this test is a much better test than the now-withdrawn ASTM C1028 that was previously included in the International Building Code, the new test method comes with a great deal of “disclaimers”, including the warning that a […]
A Caveat about Dal-Tile’s Situation-Specific Minimum DCOF AcuTest Values
This blog has previously praised Dal-Tile for recognizing that “one size fits all” does not work when it comes to slip resistance standards (or bikinis, for that matter). For instance, Dal-Tile has recommended a minimum ANSI A137.1 DCOF AcuTest wet dynamic coefficient of friction of 0.60 for swimming pool decks, public showers, and locker rooms. […]