Floor slip resistance testing is an essential process for ensuring safety in public spaces, workplaces, and homes. It helps to identify the level of slip resistance (or COF) of a floor surface, which is crucial in preventing injuries resulting from avoidable slips and falls. The most common floor slip resistance testing technique around the world […]
Tag Archives: pendulum test
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) […]
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 […]
ADA Slip Resistance Requirements
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that floors accessible to disabled persons be “slip-resistant”, but does not define what that means. Apparently it’s up to property owners and the courts to decide. But there is a reliable way of assessing slip resistance that is recognized the world over to help comply with ADA slip […]
2022 Revised ANSI A326.3 Has Five Situation-Specific DCOF Minimums — And Crucial Caveats
In February of 2022, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) issued a revised version of their “Test Method for Measuring Dynamic Coefficient of Friction of Hard Surface Flooring Materials.” The test method is called ANSI A326.3, and it sets a very low bar for DCOF in various flooring areas. Slip and fall accidents will likely […]
Slip Resistance Standard for Swimming Pools, Spas, Hot Tubs, Splash Pads, etc.
The National Sanitation Foundation (NSF), together with American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and National Standard of Canada (CAN) established a slip resistance standard for recreational water facilities. Formalized in NSF/ANSI/CAN 50 – 2019, the standard requires a wet Slip Resistance Value, SRV, of 40 or greater, measured using the pendulum slip resistance test method. Though […]
Suggested Specifications for Lifetime Slip Resistance of Flooring
When we’re buying new automobile tires we’d like to know not only that the tires are good at the time of purchase, but that they will have a reasonably long lifetime for us. Michelin, for instance, offers models with mileage warranties (within a time limit) from 36,000 to 80,000 miles. When buying slip-resistant flooring, customers […]
What Should the Slip Resistance of a Bathtub Be?
Bathtubs, in hotels or homes, are in areas where slip accidents can be very serious or fatal because there are hard objects in close proximity that can be easily struck by the head after a slip — the side of the tub, the faucet, toilets and sinks. Bare feet are soft and essentially treadless, and […]
Germany’s DIN 51130 Slip Test: What’s it Good For?
In Europe, a slip resistance test for flooring is prescribed by German Institute for Normalization (DIN) standard DIN 51130. A person wearing industrial-type treaded shoes walks, facing down slope, on a variable-angle ramp which has the flooring to be tested on it. The flooring is coated with motor oil. The walker (without holding the handrails) […]
Many Polished Concrete Floors are Slippery when Wet
Can polished concrete floors be slippery when wet? Several web sites say yes, but others (mostly polished concrete vendors) say no, it only looks that way. A study of polished concrete published by the American Society of Concrete Contractors (ASCC) in Concrete International shows wet dynamic coefficients of friction (DCOF) as measured by ANSI A137.1 […]