ASTM D2047 – an unreliable, irrelevant and worthless “floor safety” scam

ASTM D2047 was first published by the ASTM in 1953 using the James Machine to assess the “safety” of Floor Wax and Floor Polish. It was never intended to be used to assess the safety of floors, but because about 99% of floor waxes back in the 1950’s “passed” this nonsensical “test” with greater than … Continue reading “ASTM D2047 – an unreliable, irrelevant and worthless “floor safety” scam”

SCOF Testing Never Has Been and Never Will Be Relevant To Assessing Floor Slip Resistance

Floor coefficient of friction (COF) testing is the measuring of the slip resistance of a flooring surface. The static coefficient of friction (SCOF) is the force required to start an object moving relative to the surface, divided by the weight of the object on the floor. It is a measure of the resistance to sliding … Continue reading “SCOF Testing Never Has Been and Never Will Be Relevant To Assessing Floor Slip Resistance”

Fool Me Once: The Floor Slip Resistance Testing Misinformation Campaign Fooling the USA

We’ve all heard the old adage, “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.” The Tile Council of North America (TCNA), who reportedly is “in partnership” with at least one of America’s largest tile manufacturers, spent almost two decades promoting the misinformation that the ASTM C1028 static coefficient of friction (SCOF) … Continue reading “Fool Me Once: The Floor Slip Resistance Testing Misinformation Campaign Fooling the USA”

How to Get The Slip and Fall “Expert” Witness Testimony from an English XL VIT and Brungraber Mark IIIB User Thrown Out of Court

Slip and fall “expert” witnesses in the United States typically use either the English XL Variable Incidence Tribometer (VIT) or the Brungraber Mark IIIB, which is incredibly frightening considering that neither of these two instruments have a published, peer-reviewed test method in any country on earth, and both (the English XL and Brungraber Mark II, … Continue reading “How to Get The Slip and Fall “Expert” Witness Testimony from an English XL VIT and Brungraber Mark IIIB User Thrown Out of Court”

ASTM E303-22 Revolutionizes Floor Slip Resistance Testing in the USA

Floor slip resistance tests in the USA have historically been written by the members of the ASTM F13 committee. Comprised mostly of expert “liars for hire” that exclusively work for slip and fall attorneys, and representatives of the flooring industry, these tests have been based on either no science, or very little shady science. The … Continue reading “ASTM E303-22 Revolutionizes Floor Slip Resistance Testing in the USA”

BOT-3000E Manufacturer Advises Against Using ANSI/NFSI B101.3 and B101.1 to Assess Floor Slip Resistance

The manufacturer of the BOT-3000E digital tribometer is Regan Scientific Instruments of Carrollton (Dallas), Texas. Recently we asked Regan for an update on ANSI B101.3, “Test Method for Measuring Wet DCOF of Common Hard-Surface Floor Materials,” approved January 18, 2012, and ANSI/NFSI B101.1. We received a reply from Peter Ermish, President. Here’s part of his … Continue reading “BOT-3000E Manufacturer Advises Against Using ANSI/NFSI B101.3 and B101.1 to Assess Floor Slip Resistance”

Floor Slip Rating: SCOF vs. DCOF

Static coefficient of friction (SCOF) was formerly used to measure the slip resistance of a wet floor in the USA, but the test method (ASTM C1028) was withdrawn by the ASTM in 2014. Experts in the USA now know to use dynamic coefficient of friction (DCOF), as the rest of the world has been using … Continue reading “Floor Slip Rating: SCOF vs. DCOF”

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 … Continue reading “DCOF Rating for Floors”

Dal-Tile Recommends Situation-Specific Minimum DCOF AcuTest Values

We have pointed out before that the ANSI A137.1 “DCOF AcuTest” and ANSI A326.3 minimum recommended wet dynamic coefficient of friction (DCOF rating) for level wet indoor areas of 0.42 is “one size fits all” and does not consider the use of the flooring — upstairs elevator lobby, commercial kitchen, pool deck, etc. The traction … Continue reading “Dal-Tile Recommends Situation-Specific Minimum DCOF AcuTest Values”

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. … Continue reading “No More Slips in Supermarkets!”