Specifying new floors – crucial roles of the manufacturer and supplier

The provision of accurate and user-friendly safety information by flooring manufacturers and suppliers to specifiers is essential to enable users of the flooring (employers) to comply with health and safety legislation. This is particularly important in relation to workplaces where floors are more likely to be contaminated by substances which could make them slippery. In this article John Worth, Safety Policy Advisor at the Health and Safety Executive, brings us up to date.

During the specification of new floors, too little attention is paid, in many cases, to how slippery the installed floor will be during use, especially in areas where floors may become contaminated with water, oil, grease or dust. This can result in the installation of flooring materials which quickly become slippery, leading to the current high numbers of slips accidents in the workplace.

Limited information exists regarding the slipperiness of some commercially available flooring materials; information that does exist is often generated using inappropriate test methods. Slipperiness information tends to be aimed at specialists, which limits its practical use. It is therefore often difficult for specifiers to identify a floor with sufficient slip resistance.

To prevent slips at work employers must consider a number of risk factors. These include the choice of flooring and how it is installed, used, cleaned and maintained, as well as contamination, footwear, behavioural and environmental factors.

Employers have a duty under the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, to make sure that their floors are suitable for their intended purpose. This duty concerns both the construction and the physical characteristics of the floor, including that it should not be slippery. 'Suitability' also has to take account of the circumstances of use, such as the likelihood of fluids or dusts contaminating the walking surface of the floor. The employer also has a duty to take reasonable steps to keep floors free from substances which could cause a slip.

For new build and refurbishment projects, clients and designers also have duties under the CDM Regulations (The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007) - which refer to the Workplace Regulations - to consider the intended use of buildings, including floors. Installed flooring has to have sufficient slip resistance to enable the client to comply with these statutory duties. Manufacturers and suppliers of flooring should therefore take reasonable steps to ensure that pedestrians will not be exposed to risks due to the properties of their flooring.

The information provided by the supplier can be crucial to ensuring that the flooring is suitable for the intended use. Where a product is marketed or sold as being 'slip-resistant' or 'safety' flooring, information should be provided by the manufacturer to support these claims. Test data should be available and this must be presented clearly so that it is easily understood by the specifier.

Flooring suppliers provide a variety of technical data to describe the performance of their products. This data is commonly generated using a number of different test methods, many of which may produce contradictory information. Work by technical specialists at the Health and Safety Laboratory (HSL) for HSE has shown that some of these test methods can be used inappropriately. This could give a false picture of the suitability of a flooring product. HSL has developed a reliable and robust test method - a pendulum coefficient of friction test - which allows the accurate prediction and classification of floor surface slipperiness. The pendulum is unsuitable for use on some profiled and industrial floorings – alternative tests are available. See HSE guidance document Assessing the slip resistance of flooring - a technical information sheet.

The supplier should provide information regarding the areas and environments for which their flooring is designed to be used. For slip-resistant floorings, they should also provide an indication of the stability of the slip resistance, i.e. how it changes over time. This is often affected by installation, degradation, wear, maintenance and use. Specifiers should look carefully at manufacturers' claims for their products and, if necessary, query how manufacturers expect floors to change on installation and over their life expectancy given foreseeable use.

Full installation instructions should be given to enable the floor to be laid correctly, without affecting its intended surface properties. Where appropriate, safety warnings should also be supplied regarding the effects of the use of waxes, polishes and other finishes. If a floor requires a particular maintenance regime in order to retain its surface properties, such as reapplication of a sealant finish, the supplier should provide details of the correct procedure.

Use of the right cleaning procedures is crucial to maintaining the surface properties of the flooring; this is particularly true of safety flooring. Information should be provided by the manufacturer regarding the appropriate cleaning method and frequency, including use of cleaning equipment and substances.

References

Assessing the slip resistance of flooring - a technical information sheet

Health and Safety Executive, Preventing slips and trips in the workplace: www.hse.gov.uk/slips/

Related NBS information:

Articles:

• Slip resistance – an update
• The hidden costs of inappropriate floor covering specification
• Pendulum, Ramp and Tortus slip resistance test methods – are you confused?

Selected links:

• Floors, floorings, ceilings
• Health and safety on site

Written July 2009

 

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