There are a number of floor slip test methods established by standards-setting organizations that assess pedestrian slip resistance. Here we’ll review the most widely known and current ones. They are distinguished by the devices used in the testing. Terms such as DCOF rating, coefficient of friction, slip coefficient, slip resistance rating, and friction coefficient all […]
Archive | OSHA slip resistance standard
RSS feed for this sectionTest 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 Although this test is a much better test than the now-withdrawn ASTM C1028 that was previously included in the International Building Code, the new test method comes with a great deal of “disclaimers”, including the warning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 […]
Putting Together an Injury and Illness Prevention Program
You’ve read the statistics and you’ve seen the benefits. Now it’s time to assemble an OSHA-compliant Injury and Illness Prevention Plan (or IIPP) and put it in place in your business to help keep your employees safe and healthy. So, how do you go about writing and adopting one company-wide? Safety Direct America is here […]
Pendulum: The Most Widely Used Slip Resistance Test Worldwide
The pendulum skid tester, known in the U.S. as the “British pendulum” although it was invented at the U.S. National Bureau of Standards, is the most widely used floor slip resistance tester worldwide for measuring the slip resistance of pedestrian surfaces (DCOF rating). It is a national floor slip test standard in at least 50 […]
Fixing Your Slippery Epoxy/Polyurea/Polyaspartic Floor
We are continually amazed at how often contractors will install an epoxy (or polyurea or polyaspartic) floor coating (especially to garages and outdoor walkways) with little or no effort to make it slip-resistant under its known conditions of use — namely, sometimes wet and/or greasy. This happens in commercial, industrial, and household situations. Here’s what […]
No More Slips in Supermarkets!
Today, over 99 percent of supermarket floor areas are slippery when wet or otherwise lubricated. The lubricants may be water from tracked-in rain and snow; vegetable display sprays or a dripping ice bag; WD-40 from a customer’s test of a spray can; cooking oil; milk; or a very large variety of other liquids and solids. […]
Preventing Slips, Trips, and Falls at Work
The Most Common Workplace Injury According to the Health and Safety Executive, slipping and falling are the cause of most workplace accidents. Every year they cost business an exorbitant amount of money in employee injuries, lost billable hours, and various other costs. Learning about the main causes of slips and falls will enable you to […]
Proposed Federal Rule for Floor Slip Resistance
The U.S. federal government’s Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is considering a petition requesting rule making to require that manufacturers of floor coverings, floor coverings with coatings, and treated floor coverings label their products’ slip resistance in accordance with an ANSI/National Floor Safety Institute (NFSI) standard, B101.5. (NFSI, Safety Direct America and others offer for-fee […]
OSHA’s “Suggestion” for Minimum Floor Coefficient of Friction (COF)
We often hear the question, “What does OSHA require for floor slip resistance?” The answer is that OSHA doesn’t require anything, but nevertheless has caused a lot of confusion for employers and the public on this subject. There has never been an official OSHA slip test or safety standard for flooring. In a nonmandatory appendix […]