BOT-3000 Data Can Help Building Owners Monitor Changes in Floor Slip Resistance

Periodic testing of your company’s floors’ slip resistance can detect problems so they can be solved before they cause an accident, and can help verify that there are no remaining problems. Routine monitoring slip tests are typically conducted quarterly, semiannually, or annually. However, various unrelated pedestrian factors such as prescription and non-prescription drug use, intoxication, hazardous shoes, irresponsible pedestrian behavior or downright dishonesty can still lead to claims and possibly litigation. If the property owner can prove he or she was not negligent, liability for the alleged accident is not his.

BOT-3000E Slip Resistance (COF) Tester

Data display and instant printout for ANSI A137.1 DCOF test

The BOT’s screen display (see photo, shown on a tile floor) instantly shows the results of the test, and strip charts of the numerical results can be printed immediately. However, the BOT-3000 data port provides further information in pdf format that can be transferred to a PC or Mac computer in seconds using an ordinary USB flash drive.

The BOT-3000E’s onboard computer is able to store complete data for each slip test run, including forward-facing photographs. (The on-board camera can be turned off if not needed.)

The sample ANSI A137.1 dynamic coefficient of friction (DCOF) report ANSI A137.1 1259 includes the following information in addition to the DCOF of 0.48:

  • Test location number
  • Ambient-light photos of the location of the test by the BOT’s onboard camera
  • Graphs of instantaneous DCOF for each of the four runs in the test protocol
  • Most recent calibration and verification dates of the instrument
  • Ambient temperature and relative humidity
  • Path length of the DCOF measurement
  • Type and manufacturer’s ID of the slider (test foot) used for the test

The BOT uses “smart sliders” that have circuitry in the slider holder that provides the slider material, serial number, and date of manufacture.

All three types of ANSI test reports on the BOT-3000 include the relevant test information. The number of photos varies from one to six, depending on how many path directions are involved in the particular test protocol. The BOT’s screen display prompts the user with the simple steps involved in conducting each slip resistance test.

Regarding the graphs, initial transient values for dynamic friction are not included in the run averages and thus do not affect the result.

Your BOT-3000 slip test data, collected by you or by a third party designated by you such as Safety Direct America, can help prove that you have exercised due diligence, best possible practice, and have done everything reasonable and practicable to prevent slips and falls — in other words, that the alleged slip and/or fall accident was not due to negligence on your part.

Safety Direct America conducts BOT-3000E field and laboratory slip resistance tests using the methods described above and others as well. Lab tests typically cost around $230 per sample depending on the slip test desired. Field test charges depend on location. We have tested throughout the USA as well as from Guam to Bermuda and in Canada.

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