Can you imagine someone standing still on a clean and dry floor and somehow slipping? This is clearly an attempt by the ASTM to mislead consumers of flooring with a fake “safety test”.

The ASTM SCOF test for the Brungraber Mark II was withdrawn 2o years ago for being unable to provide a reasonable precision statement, as documented in In-Ju Kim’s book called Pedestrian Fall Safety Assessments.

The Brungraber Mark I was also measuring SCOF in bathtubs with ASTM F462, and that test was withdrawn 10 years ago by the ASTM, and we can assume it was because the test suffered from stiction and it was not properly identifying slippery bathtubs, which is why your bathtub is likely slippery when wet. In fact, a bathtub only needed to be slightly more slip resistant than glass to “pass” the Brungraber Mark I “safety scam”, according to the link provided.

As you can see from the photo above, there appears to be very little difference between the Brungraber Mark II and the Brungraber Mark IIIB. The Mark IIB is a different color, but it appears to testing the floor in the same way as the Mark II. One added feature to the Mark IIIB is grooves cut into the rubber which is something car tire manufacturers do to give car tires more friction in the rain. So we can assume that the Mark IIIB, with it’s new and improved grooved rubber, will give the user higher readings that the Mark II did, which is fantastic for insurance company lawyers!

Any claim that the Brungraber Mark IIIB measures anything other than static coefficient of friction is interpretive marketing, not mechanics.

Mechanically, the device:

1. Places a slider on the surface
2. Applies a known normal force
3. Increases tangential force by changing angle / load
4. Detects the instant motion begins
5. Reports μₛ = Fₜ / Fₙ at incipient slip

That is the definition of static coefficient of friction. So from a physics standpoint: It is impossible for the Mark IIIB to directly measure dynamic friction, gait friction, transitional friction, or walking friction.

It simply does not have the variables.

So why do people say it measures “more” than SCOF? Because of manufacturer aspiration, not measurement. Manufacturers want their devices to be relevant to walking, because:

Static COF sounds “old”

Dynamic COF sounds “modern”

Transitional just sounds bizarre and something juries won’t be capable of understanding because no device for floor slip resistance testing has ever measured transitional “COF”.

Courts and standards moved away from SCOF language when ASTM C1028 (SCOF test), ASTM F489 (for the James Machine’s SCOF test) ASTM F1677 (for the Brungraber Mark II’s SCOF test) and ASTM F1679 (for the English XL’s SCOF test) were all withdrawn because they measured the irrelevant SCOF, and was not helping stop slips in reality after years of being evaluated by OSHA, scientists in this field in Australia and the UK, and the ASTM.

So the language drifted from:

“Measures static coefficient of friction”

to:

“Measures friction relevant to walking”

to:

“Measures dynamic or transitional friction”

The Video Below Shows One Main Sources of the Slip and Fall Problem in America – Liars for Hire

Even though the Brungraber Mark II to the Brungraber Mark IIIB device never changed – other than a new paint job and grooves in the rubber slider to make it stick to slippery floors better for insurance company attorneys.

To say suddenly the Brungraber Mark IIIB measures anything other than SCOF is not science — that’s semantic inflation. The Brungraber Mark IIIB measures static coefficient of friction at the point of incipient slip. Any discussion of walking safety or slip potential based on these values represents interpretation beyond the direct measurement capability of the device.

Furthermore, a recent published study showed that the Mark IIIB, like its predecessor the Mark II lacked precision. It appears this may be why the users of this instrument, despite being the leaders of the ASTM F13 committee (whose job it is to publish pedestrian slip test standards, but haven’t published one for 30 years) for many years now, has not attempted to publish an ASTM test method for its use. An instrument must have precision and prove it to the ASTM to be considered a valid scientific device to have a published ASTM standard, like ASTM E303-22.

The manufacturer of the latest Brungraber, the Mark IIIB shown above, now states that this device is the first tribometer in the history of the world to measure transitional coefficient of friction. Seeing the tester performing its test, it sure looks like it’s measuring SCOF. It quacks like a duck and swims like a duck.

Here’s how to get the user of the Brungraber Mark IIIB thrown out of court.

The pendulum used in ASTM E303-22 has a peer-reviewed, published test method in over 50 nations, has been in use for about 75 years now, and is the most reliable and well-researched floor slip safety device on earth. Hands down. Want someone to confuse a jury because he’s done it a thousand times with his SCOF machine that is accepted by no one outside American courtrooms?

The Brungraber Mark IIIB measures one thing, and one thing only: static coefficient of friction. It measures the resistance at the exact instant a surface first begins to move. That is its design. That is its physics.

It does not measure walking. It does not measure heel strike. It does not measure motion, speed, momentum, balance, or human gait. It has no way to do so. There is no time component, no velocity component, and no simulation of a human step. Those variables simply do not exist in the measurement.

When someone tells you that this device measures “dynamic friction,” or “transitional friction,” or that it predicts how a person will walk across a floor, that is not a scientific conclusion — it is an interpretation layered on top of a static measurement.

And interpretation is not the same as measurement.

Science requires us to be precise about that distinction, especially in a courtroom. A device cannot magically measure something it was never designed to measure. Calling a static measurement by a more impressive name does not change the underlying physics.

That is why modern standards, including ASTM guidance, repeatedly caution against using any single friction number as a declaration of safety. They do not say that a number (such as 0.50) makes a floor safe. They do not say that a number prevents falls. And they certainly do not say that static friction equals walking safety.

So the real question for you is not whether a number was produced — it was. The question is whether that number was presented honestly, within the limits of what the instrument can actually measure.

If a conclusion goes beyond the measurement, then it is no longer science. It is storytelling.

Physics matters more than storytelling.

The post The Brungraber Mark I and Mark II and Mark IIIB measure static coefficient of friction and lack precision appeared first on Safety Direct America.

SparkleTuff Anti-Slip Floor Coating – looks great — no slips!

Our company, founded over 25 years ago, has deep roots in safety. Dr. George Sotter, our president at the time, authored the book “Stop Slip and Fall Accidents,” and since then, we’ve become globally recognized experts in floor slip-resistance testing. Over the years, we’ve seen countless gimmicky products—from Slip Doctors to items on Amazon or Home Depot—that do little or nothing to improve real slip resistance on most surfaces.

SparkleTuff is different. Designed after decades of testing slippery surfaces, we created a coating that truly works. It passes every slip-resistance test out there, meeting NSF/ANSI 50, ADA and OSHA standards (see slip test results), while adding a beautiful sheen to any floor imaginable. Whether it’s a pool deck or a commercial floor, SparkleTuff delivers safety that lasts and looks fantastic. We set out to make slip resistance accessible to everyone, and this video shows exactly how we accomplish that—one safe, beautiful floor at a time.

The post How SparkleTuff Transforms Pool Decks: Safety, Beauty, and Proven Results appeared first on Safety Direct America.

And it’s exactly why SparkleTuff Anti-Slip Floor Coating stands apart. We use aluminum oxide grit—built to last, never crushed, and always reliable. For years, homeowners and businesses have trusted SparkleTuff Anti-Slip Floor Coating to keep them safe—with a beautiful, durable finish. Ready to step onto safer ground? Visit us today!

SparkleTuff Anti-Slip Floor Coating – looks great — no slips!

Architects and designers, unleash your creativity! Imagine stunning glass floors that stay safe even when wet, or terrazzo, travertine, and tile masterpieces anywhere you can dream. With SparkleTuff, beauty no longer sacrifices safety. Coat any surface with our UV-protected, chemical- and scratch-resistant formula, and enjoy over a decade of durable protection. Let’s transform the world with flooring that’s as safe as it is breathtaking!

Here’s more information on SparkleTuff Anti-Slip Floor Coating, or just

BUY NOW!

The post SparkleTuff™ Anti-Slip Floor Coating – safety that’s Built To Last! appeared first on Safety Direct America.

We have the ASTM F13 committee and the leaders of the ASTM, who fail repeatedly to police their own committees publishing bad tests, to thank for every slip injury and death occurring in tubs and showers across the country.

Kahuna Grip has fantastic slip resistance when it gets wet, and it comes in clear, white, many other colors, and some fantastic designs to add some fun artwork to your slippery tub or shower. Kahuna Grip has a wet pendulum test value (PTV) of 57 with soft rubber, which mimics bare feet. According to the United Kingdom’s Health and Safety Executive, anything above a PTV of 36 is considered “low slip potential”. A PTV of 57 means Kahuna Grip has got some great slip resistance for tubs and showers, and we’re convinced that they make a superb addition to our line of products here at the Ant-Slip Floor Superstore!

Above are just a few of the awesome designs available through Safety Direct America, and you can also cover nasty stains in your tub with a white piece of Kahuna Grip. Here is the full array of designs and colors now available.

Stickers, of course, require a smooth and clean surface to stick to, so if you don’t have that, then stickers will not stick. In that case, we suggest using our SparkleTuff Anti-Slip Floor Coating, which will stick to absolutely anything and make tubs and showers of all kinds slip resistant with a clear coating.

If you’ve got a slippery tub or slippery shower, then get a grip with Kahuna Grip!

The post Introducing Kahuna Grip Anti-Slip Tub and Shower Stickers appeared first on Safety Direct America.

SparkleTuff Anti-Slip Floor Coating

SparkleTuff is an absolutely unique anti-slip floor coating that can be applied to slippery epoxy floors, slippery polyaspartic floors, and any floor you can imagine. Imagine a glass floor going over a National Park so that there no longer needs to be destruction to the flora and fauna with a hiking trail!

There is no special preparation needed for any type of floor. You simply clean and dry the floor, and apply the coating directly on top of the floor.

We have very grippy version, which is the standard SparkleTuff, and we also have a Lite Bite version which might be good for shopping centers, supermarkets that sell flowers and produce, retail outlets, and outdoor spaces that don’t require a great deal of grip, but are somewhat slippery when wet without the SparkleTuff Anti-Slip Floor Coating.

The safety test data can be found here.

Some people use the Lite Bite for showers, although we don’t recommend that. We recommend using the full version of our polysiloxane anti-slip floor coating after having both versions in our showers here for several months. Even with soap and shampoo on the floor, the standard version of SparkleTuff makes you feel totally secure in the shower.

The post SparkleTuff™ Anti-Slip Floor Coating can make any floor slip resistant. Epoxy, polyaspartic, and glass floors, too! appeared first on Safety Direct America.

Get more information at: https://safetydirectamerica.com/anti-slip-floor-coatings From the slip resistance testing experts at https://safetydirectamerica.com/

Most anti-slip floor treatments are temporary solutions, and you’ll be told to buy “special soap” to clean your floors. Well, that’s the floor treatment watered down that your cleaning crew applies nightly. SparkleTuff will last a decade or more, never yellow or crack, and will look beautiful for many years to come. Chemical resistance, UV resistance, can be submerged in water, stain resistance and you can drive a forklift over it. This is a revolutionary new type of anti-slip floor coating that has been impressing some of the biggest companies on earth for ten years now. From tub manufacturers to cruise ship companies to food processing plants – we’ve got clients that know this is the best solution out there for slippery floors of any kind.

Personal injury attorney billboards litter our country like ants because people believe nonsense slip tests created by the American tile industry themselves that say slippery floors aren’t slippery. They were fooling flooring consumers for many years with SCOF scams like the now-withdrawn ASTM C1028. Now it’s ANSI A326.3 they’re fooling people with. It’s a scam, too, written by the same authors of ASTM C1028. The BOT-3000E is not capable of being a safety assessment tool. The test method actually says that in black and white printing.

SparkleTuff Anti-Slip Floor Coating is extremely durable and long-lasting (almost permanent), and can make absolutely ANY kind of floor slip resistant with a beautiful. glossy look. No special prep is ever needed, even on epoxy floors. Just clean and dry the floor, apply this revolutionary anti-slip floor coating, and you’ll have a beautiful, safe floor for a decade or more. It shimmers in the light, and has been tested with the pendulum DCOF tester to assure that it has excellent slip resistance as per the ASTM E303 pendulum DCOF test.

The post SparkleTuff™ Anti-Slip Floor Coating. Looks Great – No Slips!! Anywhere!! appeared first on Safety Direct America.

This test uses the pendulum tester to assess the slip potential (or slip resistance) of a flooring sample, and then the sample goes through a simulated wear procedure which mimics 1-2 years of heavy foot traffic. Then another pendulum DCOF test is done to see if the slip resistance has changed. This test is the world’s most reliable and important slip resistance test when it comes to lab testing for architects and specifiers because it gives the client the most accurate real-world slip potential of a floor (before it is installed) for two conditions:

1. when the flooring is first installed and brand new, and

2. after the floor has gone through a year or two of heavy foot traffic.

The pendulum floor slip resistance tester has a peer-reviewed published test method in over 50 nations on five continents. It was originally created for the U.S. National Bureau of Standards with the first study using results from pendulum research published in 1943. The pendulum tester is sometimes referred to as the “British pendulum tester”, after it became officially validated in many experts’ eyes as the world’s most reliable slip resistance testing tool after British researchers tested 3,500 slip and fall incident sites and published their findings over 50 years ago.

This and other research studies conducted in various nations led to the United Kingdom’s Health and Safety Executive (HSE) publishing safety guidelines for pendulum test results. Australia later published a much more detailed list of recommendations using pendulum test values (PTV) for various areas of buildings, such as outdoor sidewalks, stairs, kitchens, lobbies, bathrooms and ramps.

With this SSR slip resistance test data, an architect or specifier can have peace of mind when installing a certain type of flooring that the floor will be slip resistant when new, and will retain its slip resistance over time and won’t need to be replaced after a year or two.

In 2018, Mr. Strautins conducted the first pendulum proficiency test that Sotter Engineering’s slip testing lab took part in (Proficiency Testing Report No. 26833, Safe Environments Pty Ltd), along with 39 other pendulum floor slip resistance testing labs in eight countries throughout North America, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Identical tiles were sent to all 39 labs, and results were kept confidential (to not embarrass labs that did not do well in the study). Each lab was assigned a letter so that they could see how close they came to the correct answers for the tiles sent out to each lab for this study. Results showed that Sotter Engineering’s test lab was one of the top three most accurate in the world.

Again in 2022, Mr. Strautins organized another “pendulum proficiency test” for labs throughout the world, in which 20 laboratories participated. That study was the study mentioned earlier that showed that Sotter Engineering was the world’s most accurate and precise pendulum testing lab when it comes to Sustainable Slip Resistance pendulum testing.

Also in 2022, John C Sotter of Sotter Engineering Corporation made numerous changes to (American Society for Testing and Materials) ASTM E303-22, which is the USA’s version of the pendulum slip test that was published and has been in continuous use since 1993. Mr. Sotter’s changes and additions to ASTM E303-22 were intended to make it more closely mimic the recently-updated pendulum test methods used across Europe, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia. Numerous research studies and proficiency tests were helping pendulum test method creators make their test methods come up with more precise results, and produce more repeatable results. John C Sotter brought ASTM E303 light-years ahead in 2022 by making several changes to make the test more repeatable and precise.

Verification surfaces and their correct test values were also published in the ASTM’s 2022 version of ASTM E303-22 so that pendulum users could validate that they were getting the correct answers on three easily-obtainable surfaces that covers the spectrum of readings on the pendulum – a very slippery surface, a moderately slip resistant surface, and a very slip resistant surface. This way pendulum users could check that their pendulum was working correctly in between annual calibrations, but they could also check that they were correctly following the directions when using the instrument and getting the correct values for known surfaces.

The proficiency tests organized by Mr. Strautins showed that some labs were not getting results close enough to the correct results on some surfaces, meaning either their pendulum was out of calibration, or the user needed to go over the test method again to make sure they were conducting the test properly. Even some professional floor slip resistance test labs were not doing well in these proficiency tests. And some not doing so well were ISO-accredited labs.

Believe it or not, it does normally take a little bit of experience to get accurate results on the pendulum tester, and extremely experienced users like John C Sotter will get extremely accurate results (as shown in three international proficiency tests), and first-time users will often get erroneous or inaccurate results because they are not yet familiar enough with the test method or the instrument. You don’t just push a button on the pendulum and it gives you the answer. There’s a bit more to it.

Inexperienced users will perhaps forget to tighten to locking knob on the back of the instrument before testing, for instance, or they’re using a rubber slider that wasn’t prepared properly according to the test method’s instructions. There’s a myriad of mistakes that can be made by an inexperienced pendulum user. It takes just a bit of instruction, training, and experience before a pendulum user is proficient. And some ISO-accredited labs apparently are not totally proficient, likely because they’re “specializing” in a hundred different types of tests, so they’re a master of none.

This is why renting a pendulum is very bad idea, both for that pendulum and for obtaining accurate results. Sending a delicate engineering device to an untrained  “first-time user” and then to another “first-time user” all year long will certainly cause damage to the instrument (and rubber sliders), and results would likely not be very accurate at all when someone has had no training or experience with the device. Mr. Strautin’s proficiency tests showed that even professional labs sometimes make mistakes and get bad results. We only know of one company in the entire world that rents pendulums. It’s a super dumb idea. Spend a few extra dollars and get a trained professional to test your floors. One small slip and fall lawsuit will cost you a whole lot more than getting a trained expert to come in and do your floor slip resistance testing for you.

In 2025, Mr. Strautins created another proficiency test for slip resistance testing labs around the world (Proficiency Testing Report No. 33048, Safe Environments Pty Ltd), and twenty-seven labs from five countries on three separate continents participated. Again, Sotter Engineering was found to be one of the top three most accurate labs on the planet. But furthermore, nineteen of the twenty-seven labs that participated in this study were ISO-accredited labs. That means that Sotter Engineering got more accurate results in this study than at least seventeen ISO-accredited labs! So what does that say about ISO accreditation?

ISO-accredited labs usually spend a whole lot of money and time and energy creating lots of paperwork to become ISO-accredited. That means they need to make lots of money (after they’ve given the ISO all that time and money) testing potato chips to verify if they’re “vegan”, testing concrete to make sure it has enough tensile strength, they need to test crackers to make sure they’re truly “gluten-free”, and they need to test floors for slip resistance from time to time as well. ISO labs are usually a “jack of all trades, but masters of none.”

ISO-accredited labs often have pretty lab coats embroidered with their company logo on them, and binders of safety protocols around every corner, but almost all ISO-accredited labs proved themselves in this latest pendulum proficiency test to be less accurate than Sotter Engineering in floor slip resistance testing. We specialize in just this one type of testing, and we know it well after more than two decades! So if you want an expert, hire an expert. If you want an ISO stamp on the report, take the results with a grain of salt, perhaps…

Hire an expert in floor slip resistance testing like Sotter Engineering, and you can be sure you’re getting accurate results and knowledgeable insight into possible remedial solutions to help stop slips on your property. Hire an ISO-accredited lab, and you’ll get some pendulum test results that might be a bit off, but you can get your crackers tested for gluten at the same time!

The post ISO-Certified Slip Resistance Testing labs vs. the floor slip resistance testing Experts at Sotter Engineering Corporation – the results are in!! appeared first on Safety Direct America.

These traffic paints used for speed bumps, red curbs, handicapped parking spaces, and other parking lot markings are regularly re-painted, but that doesn’t need to be the case, and these speed bumps and red curbs don’t need to be a dangerous slip hazard.

SparkleTuff Anti-Slip Floor Coating is a clear, glossy, really long-lasting, and very anti-slip floor coating that sticks to absolutely any floor or road surface. It has UV protection, so red curb paint and speed bumps only need to be re-painted every decade or so. The amazing slip resistance of SparkleTuff means that speed bumps are no longer a slip hazard, and red curbs no longer need to be stripped and re-painted nearly as often.

You can see the reflection of the sun in the photo above, meaning this paint is glossy, and therefore almost certainly slippery when wet. That doesn’t need to be the case if this paint was coated with SparkleTuff Anti-Slip Floor Coating. This revolutionary anti-slip floor (and road) coating makes traffic paint anti-slip, and protects the paint so it’ll last a whole lot longer.

SparkleTuff can also help remediate slippery pedestrian tactile surfaces like the one photographed above. These usually have some sort of anti-slip “bumps” or “nubs” on top of the surface, as seen below these large domes, but these “bumps” or “nubs” often wear down quickly, leaving a glossy slip hazard. Pedestrian tactile domes like these need to be replaced right away because they are a clear slip hazard when wet, but another option is the coat the tops of these domes with SparkleTuff Anti-Slip Floor Coating. It lasts for ten years or more in many situations, you can drive forklifts over it, and it has UV protection to keep colors from fading.

A new generation in anti-slip floor coatings, SparkleTuff anti-slip roadway treatment is a polysiloxane. It never yellows or peels or cracks. It has stain and scratch resistance and can help save pedestrians from the slip and fall hazards that pedestrian tactile domes, red curbs, and traffic paints create in the USA.

There’s no need to paint your parking lot annually. These slippery, glossy paints can be preserved and made slip resistant by simply adding a thin coat of SparkleTuff Anti-Slip Floor Coating on these slippery-when-wet paints. End the slip epidemic in the USA. SparkleTuff Anti-Slip Floor and Roadway Coating – looks great – no slips!

The post Traffic paint, pavement striping paint and red curb paint is a glossy, slippery mess waiting to happen. The answer is SparkleTuff™ Anti-Slip Floor Coating! appeared first on Safety Direct America.

If you’d prefer to listen to a podcast talking about this blog post while you drive, click here.

The first camp is made up of “non-profits” that pretend that they are interested in helping stop slip and fall injuries from occurring, but they pander to and are supported by the flooring industry itself, and these “non-profits” help the people they represent come up with slip resistance test methods (that keep getting withdrawn, or exposed as bad tests that don’t accurately assess safety) that serve to tell us that slippery flooring isn’t slippery, and another “non-profit” sells “high traction” stickers for flooring and floor products. Both of these “non-profits” help manufacturers of flooring and floor products make more sales and profits. The test methods they publish are part of the problem because they do not accurately identify slippery floors. They used to use ASTM C1028 to fool flooring consumers, until the test was exposed as a fraudulent safety test and withdrawn by the ASTM.

Here’s a video showing Camp #1’s latest test, ANSI A326.3 with the BOT-3000E, doing a really bad job of identifying a slippery floor as slippery:

The rest of the world doesn’t fall for this American nonsense. They use independent, reliable science that’s been researched for well over 50 years to help avoid slips and falls from happening, partly because many other counties (especially in Europe) have a system of universal health care, which means even the government, as well as building owners and architects, have an interest in stopping preventable slip and fall injuries. It costs the governments of these countries money fixing broken arms and hips with tax dollars that is much better spent elsewhere, such as housing the homeless, or buying second mansions for themselves.

The second camp consists of full-time expert “liars for hire” that work only for personal injury attorneys and insurance companies. Their interest is not in science or stopping slips from occurring. Their interest is figuring out a way to get the result the lawyer paying them wants them to get. If they do a good job of saying exactly what that lawyer wants them to say, then that lawyer is much more likely to hire them the following week when another slip and fall lawsuit comes across their desk. By pandering to big-time lawyers that do a lot of slip and fall defense work (and pandering to the big-time personal injury attorneys at times, as well), some of these people claim to have testified in hundreds or even more than a thousand slip and fall lawsuits. These are full-time professional liars that make the situation worse with fake tests and bogus data.

The more people that get injured in slip and fall incidents, the more jobs available to these “liars for hire” in camp #2, so why would they be interested in stopping them from happening? They aren’t. They don’t work for architects and building owners using proven, reliable and precise scientific devices that will help these people stop slip incidents from happening, but rather they come in with fake data after the injuries have occurred to help win, win, win these high-dollar lawsuits.

The two most common instruments used by this camp of “experts” are the English XL and the Brungraber Mark IIIB, and it’s baffling how these “instruments” that have been proven to lack precision in published studies are still let into American courtrooms as “science” since they were rejected by OSHA, the ASTM, and the international community of experts in this crucial field of study long ago. They are anything but real science.

These fake, unreliable “slip test instruments” are not intended to help stop the slip and fall injury epidemic in America, and they are rarely, if ever, used to help stop slips and falls from happening. They are only used in American courtrooms to win lawsuits. Below are photos of the Brungraber Mark II and Mark IIIB used by full-time courtroom “liars for hire”. One has a withdrawn ASTM standard (withdrawn over 20 years ago), and the other one has no peer-reviewed, published test standard in ANY nation because it lacks precision. In essence, it’s been proven that every operator of this device gets a different answer on the exact same spot of flooring. This allows users of this device to learn to manipulate the Brungraber Mark IIIB to get the answer the lawyer wants.

In fact, one peer-reviewed, published research study from Australia stated quite clearly that, “When compared to the other test methods, the VIT tends to underestimate the wet slip resistance of smooth polished, glazed or surface-protected tiles, while overestimating the slip resistance of tiles with a textured or profiled surface.” This means that these devices are fantastic at saying moderately slip resistant floors are very slippery, and can also help the “liar for hire” provide data indicating that floors that aren’t slippery are more slippery than they are. They don’t work to properly assess the slip resistance of floors, in other words. A perfect courtroom device for professional liars that need to provide bogus data that defies reality.

ASTM F2508 was created by some of these “experts” to “validate” their instruments (since valid scientific instruments will all have international acceptance and published test methods). The instruments they use have recent peer-reviewed, published studies showing that they lack precision, and therefore they have no chance of publishing a test method anywhere on earth. The “science” and common sense behind this “verification procedure” ASTM F2508 for instruments that have proven to lack reliability and precision is absolutely laughable. More on the laughable joke that is ASTM F2508 is discussed in the link provided. It’s pure nonsense, and it’ll make you think the gatekeepers of our justice system (the judges allowing this nonsense into their courtrooms) may be lacking some serious intelligence.

According to ASTM F2508, our eyes may be considered valid scientific thermometers in an American court of law if they can discern that a cup of ice water is colder than a cup of visibly-steaming-hot water in front of us. ASTM F2508 really is that ridiculous and fraudulent. The fact that users of the Brungraber Mark IIIB were able to publish such nonsense through the ASTM and use it to fool American judges will make you fear for your life and for our broken justice system…I assure you.

ASTM F2508 will convince you that Camp #2 of slip resistance test “experts” are in the slip and fall game for one reason – to help win multi-million-dollar slip and fall lawsuits with fake data. They couldn’t care less about preventing slips and falls. They’ve spent three decades now doing all they can to stop good science from helping to stop slip and fall incidents in America. Shame on them, and shame on the leaders of the ASTM for allowing these games to rule the ASTM F13 committee.

The third camp consists of independent, third-party testing labs that can help architects, flooring manufacturers, and building owners avoid slip and fall injuries from occurring. This is the only camp interested in helping stop slip and fall injuries with reliable, proven, international science created after many decades of slip and fall research around the world using the pendulum tester (shown below with me helping a meat processing plant to stop slips amongst their workers and visitors).

The first camp of “non-profits” writes and publishes slip resistance test methods designed to provide a false sense of security to architects, specifiers and building owners. They published the now-withdrawn ASTM C1028 (withdrawn in 2014), the now-expired ANSI B101.1-2009 (expired in 2014) and now-expired ANSI B101.3-2014 (expired in 2019). These were all written largely by a “non-profit” that represents the flooring industry and puts their logo on the front of their test methods now. All these test methods had to go away because too many people had been shown just how bad these tests were at identifying slippery floors. These tests were telling us that the slipperiest of floors were not slippery at all. So the largest flooring “non-profit” had to publish another bogus test to help sell more slippery flooring in the USA…

Their latest is ANSI A326.3, which was also published to help flooring manufacturers fool consumers today into believing that flooring has “passed” a “slip resistance safety test,” when in fact the test method itself says on the first page of the published test method that it is not intended to be a safety test at all. So what is it for? “Comparing surfaces”, according to the first page of the test. At least they’re not lying, but they’re counting on architects and specifiers not comprehending the fact that this test definitely comes across as a “slip resistance safety test”, but the disclaimers all point to the fact that it is in NO way that. To use ANSI A326.3 as a “slip resistance safety test” is to ignore the dozens of disclaimers posted throughout the test method. It’s ignoring reality and just being dumb.

Did you think ANSI A326.3 was a “safety test”? Then you haven’t read (or you chose to ignore) page one of the test method. Or you were perhaps mislead by someone at a “lunch and learn” or some other form of propaganda designed around getting architects to think ANSI A326.3 is a valid “slip resistance safety test” when it clearly isn’t.

The ANSI A326.3 test states clearly that it, “can provide a useful comparison of surfaces, but does not predict the likelihood a person will or will not slip on a hard surface flooring material.” It also states throughout the test method that, “the measured DCOF value shall not be the only factor in determining the appropriateness of a hard surface flooring material for a particular application.” It states that several other factors must be considered (other than the DCOF value obtained), but does not offer any guidance on how to consider those “other factors”.

They leave architects and specifiers to assume that the numbers given in this test as “passing” mean that it has passed a “safety test”, when that’s not what the test says at all…and for good reason. The tile industry doesn’t want to get dragged into the thousands of slip and fall lawsuits across the country that pop up weekly. They didn’t mislead you into believing the floor you bought passed a “safety test”, but rather YOU chose to ignore what the test says it is. It is not at all claiming to be a safety test. You just chose to ignore that.

ANSI A326.3 (and it’s predecessor ANSI A137.1) is for “comparing surfaces”, not “assessing safety”. Many manufacturers, architects and municipal officials choose to ignore that fact. Elsewhere in the ANSI A326.3 official test method, it states, “Normative measured DCOF limit values are not provided in this standard for exterior applications, interior ramps and inclines, pool decks, shower floors, or flooring that is contaminated with material other than water or where minimal or no footwear is used.” So according to that disclaimer, they’re not saying that this test is relevant to a floor with spilled coffee, tea, sunscreen, dirt or cola on it…it’s just for floors with spilled water. Don’t blame the publishers of this test if there was dried floor soap, dust, or a million other contaminants on your floor. This test doesn’t take those realities into consideration. You’re on your own in the slip and fall lawsuit. They warned you. ANSI A326.3 is in no way arguing that it’s a “floor slip resistance safety test”.

Test results from this test say far too many slippery floors aren’t slippery, and that’s one reason why they tell you on page one that the test was NOT designed to be an assessment of safety. Want to use it as one anyway? Then YOU are also part of the slip and fall epidemic in the USA. For reliable slip resistance test safety assessments, the rest of the world has been using the pendulum dynamic coefficient of friction (DCOF) tester for decades, because it DOES assess the slip resistance safety of a floor. Below I’m testing the slip resistance safety of a “splash pad” with the pendulum tester at an amusement park.

The video below appeared on Bloomberg Businessweek several years ago, and features interviews with two of the “slip and fall game’s” biggest players in Camp #1. One of these two “experts” also makes a living in Camp #2 using test methods he publishes with his Camp #1 “non-profit”. His ability to publish test methods was taken away for a while, but now he’s back publishing bad test methods that are part of the problem.

The amount of disinformation in this video is scary and at times just strangely bizarre, so be warned. These are mostly not facts being presented in this video…just mostly bizarre interpretations of an alternate reality, perhaps…

No-one in this video began the slip and fall prevention business, and the BOT-3000E stopped being admissible in European standards in 2008, and there doesn’t seem to be any evidence that it was ever included as part of a published European test standard (just a couple of the “bizarre” things stated in the video by these Camp #1 “experts”). The BOT-3000E certainly isn’t included in Europe’s current slip resistance test standard, EN 16165, published in 2021 for dozens of countries including the United Kingdom, who has been studying how to prevent slips and falls since around the time these two “experts” were born. Again, many of the things said in this video are far from true. The people in Camp #1 live in a different reality where stopping slips is not as important as helping to sell slippery flooring.

For historical context, Percy A. Sigler at the U.S. National Bureau of Standards developed the pendulum dynamic coefficient of friction (DCOF) test method specifically for the assessment of pedestrian traction potential, and he started publishing his results in 1943 (before either of these “experts” were born, presumably). Today that research has resulted in America’s latest reliable and proven slip resistance test method, ASTM E303-22. It’s used by Camp #3 to help stop slip and fall incidents using reliable science used on five continents.

Static coefficient of friction (SCOF) testing has been widely debunked by the international community. See letters published on that blog post from leading experts on three continents stating that SCOF testing was abandoned long ago by the international floor slip testing community, and why. That blog post also contains links to peer-reviewed, published studies stating why SCOF testing was abandoned around the world (except in the USA) as a valid safety assessment decades ago in Europe, the UK, Australia and elsewhere.

Here is a detailed look into why SCOF testing is no longer internationally accepted as science. Even the Tile Council of North America (TCNA), who published ANSI A326.3 (which is not a “safety test”, remember?!) abandoned the SCOF test ASTM C1028 in 2014 because it was calling some of the most slippery floors on earth “not slippery” due to a problem with SCOF testing called “stiction”. SCOF testing does not work to assess safety. The world agrees on that. There’s only a few fools left in the world today still peddling that nonsense, and they’re clearly in Camp #1, and part of the problem.

SCOF tests measure how slippery a floor is to someone standing still (static) on the floor. People don’t slip while standing. The nonsense Camp #1 fools use to convince you that it is relevant has been proven in published studies to be nonsense. This peer-reviewed, published study said, “This study found that the manually-pulled 50-pound drag sled (as used in ASTM C-I028) was incapable of satisfactorily distinguishing between the wet slip resistance of ceramic tiles.” This was easily the most widely-used and popular SCOF test ever until it was abandoned by the ASTM and the Tile Council of America (TCNA) in 2014, except perhaps for the disgusting scam that is ASTM D2047.

ASTM’s D2047 is perhaps the biggest scam safety test ever created, as it is measuring how slippery a clean and dry floor is to someone standing still on it. Bizarre? No. Just a scam. UL 410 is the exact same test, using the James Machine.

Below is an SCOF test being performed after an internationally-accepted pendulum dynamic coefficient of friction (DCOF) test is performed on the same slippery flooring sample.

During the 1950’s and 1960’s the Greater London Council (GLC) in the United Kingdom (UK) used the pendulum DCOF slip resistance tester to evaluate 3,500 slip and fall incident sites, and the findings of that study were published in 1971. Further research in the UK led to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE, which is the English version of OSHA) publishing guidelines for what constitutes safe, moderately safe, and a slippery floor for pendulum test results.

ASTM C1028, ASTM F1677, ASTM F1678, ASTM F1679, ASTM F489, ANSI B101.1-2009, and several other worthless SCOF test methods over the years have either been withdrawn by the ASTM, or allowed to expire because they all were found to have no correlation between the real-world slip resistance of floors and the test results given by these tests. Some also lacked precision and could not identify slippery floors as slippery.

As it turns out, in the USA, perhaps the biggest money in the “slip and fall game” turns out to be creating fake data saying that polished, glazed, slippery-when-wet floors aren’t slippery at all. Unscrupulous people in the USA’s Camp #1 and Camp #2 have been trying to publish bad SCOF test methods for decades to make this easy money. Their test methods have all been withdrawn or allowed to expire except ASTM D2047 and ANSI B101.1-22. (That’s the same ANSI B101.1-2009 that was allowed to expire by the TCNA, ANSI and the manufacturer of the machine used in the test because it wasn’t identifying slippery floors as slippery.

Using all the bad SCOF test methods created by these first two camps of “expert liars for hire” and “non-profit organizations”, slippery floors are installed, defended, and never remediated, allowing more and more innocent pedestrians to suffer life-changing injuries upon them. They are the cause of the USA’s slip and fall epidemic, and why there are millions of personal injury attorney billboards that cover our land like flies on fresh bull dung.

ASTM E303-22 was updated in 2022 in the USA based on over 50 years of international slip and fall science. It can identify slippery floors in published research study after published research study after published research study so that they are either not installed in dangerous areas, or they can lead building owners to utilize absorbent anti-slip mats at entryways when it rains, have a gritty anti-slip floor coating applied to the floor, or have the floor acid-etched, for instance. Here’s a video showing the world’s most reliable slip resistance test, using the pendulum DCOF tester, which has a peer-reviewed, published test in over 50 nations.

This American “slip and fall game” is a deadly one, and it’s making lawyers and shady “experts” rich while innocent pedestrians in America suffer in hospital beds, and under the knife of well-paid surgeons who put rods in the victim’s backs and wrists, and replace their hips.

Asking flooring manufacturers to create their own slip and fall safety standards, after decades of them publishing nonsensical bogus SCOF tests is like asking your smiley neighborhood fox to build you a hen house. Would you wonder if that hen house might include a hidden trap door or two? You’d be a fool not to. The fox will be eating your chickens by the end of the week because you’re too foolish to know the difference between who is a trustworthy keeper of safety and who is not. Just like the fox building the hen house, the “non-profits” in USA’s Camp #1 want you to not read all the disclaimers in ANSI A326.3 and pretend it’s a reliable safety test. It’s not, and it tells you so.

The “experts” in Camp #2 want you to pretend science doesn’t need to be peer-reviewed, published, and accepted internationally. They are court jesters, and a major problem for our society in many ways. They make a mockery of our justice system, and they cause countless avoidable slip and fall injuries across the USA with their bad, unreliable science.

For reliable floor slip resistance testing safety based on over 50 years of independent research in over 50 nations, use ASTM E303-22 or any other of the pendulum DCOF test methods available around the world. Slip and fall incidents (they aren’t accidents because they are preventable using real science) are preventable. Using the European Union’s EN 16165: Annex B, Australia and New Zealand’s AS 4586, the United Kingdom’s BS 16165: Annex B, and other pendulum test methods from around the world, people can accurately assess the slip potential of a floor and respond accordingly.

Not every floor needs to be slip resistant, but every floor owner should know the truth about the slip resistance safety of their floors. Camp #1 and Camp #2 don’t want you to know the truth. Needlessly destroying people’s lives because you refuse to use real science to assess the floor slip resistance safety of your floors makes you a part of America’s slip and fall epidemic as well. Please use real science to assess slip safety, and reject the SCOF nonsense pushed by con artists and sociopaths in the USA in our Camp #1 and Camp #2 “floor slip resistance testing experts.” They are just really evil people, whether they choose to ignore it or not.

Sotter Engineering and Safety Direct America is clearly in Camp #3. We want to help stop the epidemic with reliable science. We can also offer solutions to slippery floors like anti-slip floor coatings and anti-slip floor tapes.

The post Exposing the Main Con Artists in the American Slip and Fall Game appeared first on Safety Direct America.

There are a lot of bad ways to fix a slippery floor. Home Depot, Amazon, Slip Doctors and others have anti-slip floor treatments that will be a temporary solution, and you’ll end up addicted to buying their products again and again to etch tiny pores in your flooring to maintain the slip resistance. That’s why these products recommend you get quarterly slip resistance testing done – this is the way they get their foot in your door to tell you to buy more of their “floor cleaner”, which is actually some some and more of the chemical etch they originally treated your slippery floor with.

SparkleTuff Anti-Slip Floor Coating applies a clear, glossy, gritty, very durable anti-slip coating to your floor. It looks beautiful, will definitely stop slips from happening, and will last for years and years without having to buy the product again and again. One coat and you’ll be good for many, many years – even in high foot traffic areas and areas with forklifts and other heavy machinery.

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The post SparkleTuff Anti-Slip Floor Coating vs. temporary anti-slip floor treatments and water-based coatings appeared first on Safety Direct America.