What Makes a Good Safety Floor?

No matter the type of facility you operate, safety is important, and one of the more universal safety concerns is slips and falls. This can be a problem around entrances where people track in water from outside, or in areas of food preparations that are slick from frequent cleaning. The best way to mitigate these risks is with safety flooring. Safety Direct America has all you need, including this handy guide on what to look for in good safety flooring.

It Should Withstand Heavy Abrasion

In most cases safety floors use an aggregate, material used to create rough, abrasive surface that gives them their slip resistant qualities. That does make the floor tougher, but the toughness derived from the aggregate has to last. A good way to know that your safety floor is up to scratch is if it can with stand the EN 660-2 abrasion test, which exposes the floor to 50,000 cycles of abrasion simulating wear over time.

Sufficient Aggregate

In order to provide good traction and safety, a floor or anti-slip material needs to have enough aggregate to handle the amount of slick fluid that it will be expected to encounter. Be careful of floors and materials that only undergo ex-factory ramp tests, as these are not always sufficient, and sometimes aren’t rated for the legal requirements of slip resistance.

It Passes the Pendulum Test

Another of the thorough and respected tests that demonstrate the effectiveness of safety flooring is the pendulum test. The test involves placing a pendulum on the floor that will swing down almost exactly at floor level, with a rubber sole attached to the foot of the pendulum. Calibrated correctly, the rubber will catch on the floor if the slip resistance is high enough. If not, it will swing through.

These aren’t all the tests that a slip resistant floor or material can be qualified on. If you have any doubts about your flooring, try testing it! Your team at Safety Direct America has everything you need to test your flooring and to protect your employees from slips and falls. Contact us to schedule a test today!