Be Safe With Anti Slip Floor Treatment

By Author: Marten Pitts
Total Articles: 12
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Slippery floors are a high risk area often overlooked or ignored. In the home people often wait until the first accident or scare to do something positive to remedy the problem. Unfortunately the first incident can be a severe one, leading to long term physical issues. In the some case with the elderly, some much more serious, even life threatening complication can set in as a result. Monash University studies have shown that slip/fall risk increases dramatically with surface water contamination and elderly Australians are particularly at risk with a staggering 75% of fall fatalities aged 65 years and over.

There a many different products to increase the SCOF (Surface Co-efficient of Friction) and reduce these risks but these can be broken down into 2 main categories.

PERMANENT SURFACE MODIFICATION:

This solution generally creates micro channels in the hard tile surface, which like a car tire allows water to be displaced from under foot allowing a much higher surface contact area and greater traction. This process can be applied to most hard surfaces including ceramic, porcelain baths, natural and man-made ...
... stone including terrazzo and some granite. Providing the surface is kept clean this type of modification will last for many years.

SURFACE COATING:

This option seals off the surface with a urethane or epoxy film which in its design has a slip resistant finish. Often used on resilient surfaces such as vinyl or timber these products are classified as “maintenance” finishes requiring recoating at intervals dependent on the traffic and density. Additional anti-slip beads or grit can also be added to increase the SCOF to a very high level for commercial applications or incline ramps.

With any Anti Slip Floor Treatment, it remains critical that the surface be cared for properly in order to maintain the effectiveness of the treatment. Mopping alone for instance will often transfer contaminants to the grout line or into the micro channels to then be re distributed over the surface with the next clean. In commercial environments we always recommend the use of a wet-vac to eliminate this cross contamination issue.

In all public places OH&S calls for an organization to comply with their “Duty of Care” responsibilities, this will always include the maintenance of safe foot traffic surfaces. In Australia qualified testing of these surfaces is usually performed by an accredited organization using a British Pendulum test which will provide very accurate data which can be used in court during litigation if required.

The Australian Standards for slip Resistance AS-4586 & 4663 set out the minimum requirements for any pedestrian surface, builders and architects must follow these standards in the design for pedestrian surface materials. The CSIRO handbook HB 197 is also used as a guide for existing surfaces.

With vast experience in the domestic, commercial and Industrial sectors, Friction Systems Australia can assess your site considering things like wear, water contamination, UV exposure, traffic types, public access and liability. Based on this information our professional technician will then recommend the most appropriate Anti Slip Floor Treatment for your environment.

href="http://www.frictionsystems.com.au/">Friction Systems Australia install a wide range of leading edge Anti Slip Floor Treatment solutions, We specialize tough low maintenance Anti Slip Floor Coating and Non Slip Floor Coatings