Resilient safety flooring

Applications

Resilient safety flooring is often specified in high traffic situations such as hospitals, sports centres, schools and bars, as well as corridors and public circulation areas.

Higher specification, more slip resistant products are available for wet areas, especially where barefoot traffic is likely.

Special types are also required for commercial kitchens and other production environments, which are affected by oils or grease that further heighten the slip risk.

For applications prone to contamination by specific substances, such as greasy water or oils, it is necessary to specify a product that provides slip resistance in those particular conditions.

Composition and manufacture

PVC / vinyl flooring is the most common type of safety flooring, with rubber also being suited to applications that require slip resistance.

Homogeneous construction involves one or multiple layers of the same material. This type of manufacture is commonly used for slip-resistant safety flooring.

Heterogeneous products are made from a wear layer, which is typically transparent, which is combined with other supporting layers. This type of manufacture allows printed designs to be incorporated, and it is more often used in decorative resilient flooring.

Finish and appearance

Studded surface finishes increase the slip resistance, particularly for soft soled shoes and bare feet, which mould to the stud profile, increasing the surface area that is in contact with the floor.

However, hard soled shoes do not mould to the studs, meaning that for some profiles, as little as 10% of the shoe is in contact with the floor, which compromises the slip resistance.

Special stud profiles are available for use in areas where water is expected and where users are likely to be wearing hard soled shoes. Applications that face these challenges include sports centre changing rooms, hospital patient suites and domestic kitchens.

Smooth surface finishes may incorporate particles or other additives that reduce the slipperiness of the floor. Carborundum, quartz, cork or grit particles can be used for higher durability and grip in environments where greasy or oily contaminants increase the chance of slips and falls.

Some products have a slightly embossed or textured surface finish, which provides a certain amount of slip resistance.

PUR surface finishes make safety floors easier to clean.

Technical data

Dimensions/weight

Resilient safety flooring is commonly specified at a thickness of 2mm, although 3mm products are used for very heavy traffic applications.

Performance criteria

Research by the Health and Safety Laboratory (HSL), on behalf of The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) , has shown that a combination of factors can contribute to slip accidents. A slip potential model has been developed, in which the relative importance of the factors contributing to a slip are assessed and quantified.

The HSE advises selecting a floor with a Pendulum Test Value (see below) of 36+ for foot traffic in contact with a floor with ‘foreseeable contamination’. In other words, the test procedure should be carried out with the substance – clean water, beverages or oil, for example – on the floor sample to be tested.

It is important therefore to carry out a risk assessment to establish which substances are expected to create a slip risk, and to understand how the surface will behave with them.

Accreditation

There are two common and widely accepted methods of slip testing for safety floors: the Pendulum Test, which is the method preferred by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), and the Ramp Test.

Other supplementary tests can be used, but the picture can be a confusing one for specifiers, as several types of test and slip resistance value are currently in use.

It is important to consider the slip resistance of the flooring in actual use, on site, with the expected contaminants, and in contact with different footwear types (as well as bare feet), rather than only the factory slip resistance values or laboratory tests.

Pendulum Test

The Pendulum Test is the method of testing preferred by the (HSE) for the assessment of floor slipperiness in dry and contaminated conditions.

The test uses a portable mechanical device to simulate the action of a shoe slipping on the floor and measure the coefficient of friction (CoF). An imitation heel, which replicates a standard rubber shoe sole, is swung across the test surface in a pendulum motion. This provides a measurable skid distance, known as the Pendulum Test Value (PTV), which shows how slippery the flooring is.

Pendulum Test Values range from zero to 36+ and relate to a high, moderate or low slip risk. The PTV indicates the chance of slipping as a ratio to 1. A PTV of 22, for example, would mean that the user has between a 1-in-2 and a 1-in-20 chance of slipping.

An advantage of the Pendulum Test is that it can be carried out on site, and can be used to assess the slip risk with contaminants that may be expected to be spilt on the flooring.

Ramp Test

DIN 51130:2004, also known as the Ramp Test, is used in Continental Europe and the UK. It is a laboratory test that uses human participants wearing cleated safety boots. The dry flooring material is secured to a hinged ramp, which is then raised slowly through 29 degrees until the participant slips off.

The first rating, R9, means that the subject slipped when the ramp was between six and ten degrees. This sometimes causes confusion, as R9 can be perceived as a high rating, but there is no such rating as R1. The highest rating, R13, is awarded where the ramp reached 35 degrees with no slippage at all.

DIN 51097 is the wet version of the Ramp Test. It is used for the determination of the anti­slip properties of flooring in barefoot areas, with soapy water as the contaminant. Results are reported as Class A, B or C, with A being the least slip resistant. Floors that perform well in the test do not necessarily perform well with clean water contamination.

The disadvantage of the Ramp Test is that it cannot be used on site. Testing on site can provide insight into the performance of the floor in use, as well as to keep track of wear and tear and the effectiveness of cleaning regimes.

The HSE has reservations about these test methods, as neither uses contaminants or footwear that are representative of those commonly found in workplaces. The most common substance that creates a slip hazard is clean or potable water.

Surface microroughness test

The HSE also recommends the use of meters to test for surface microroughness, in cases where the Pendulum Test cannot be carried out, such as on stairs. The minimum roughness (Rz) in µm can indicate high, moderate or low slip potential.

The HSE advises that floors with greater surface roughness are used in areas where higher viscosity contaminants are an intrinsic part of the environment and are to be expected on a regular basis (such as within a food processing unit). In order to cope with highly viscous spillages, the surface roughness of the flooring must be sufficient in order to lower the slip potential. The table below summarises HSE advice.

However, there is some question over the validity of the use of the Rz roughness measurement. Is it actually comparable to PTV? If it does not detect contamination, how can the values it provides take contamination into account? How it relates to the slip risk of a flooring in actual use, over time?

Surface microroughness testing should not be carried out independently but considered in conjunction with other data such as Pendulum Test Values.

BS EN 649:2011

Resilient floor coverings. Homogenous and heterogenous polyvinyl chloride floor coverings. Specification.

BS 13845

Slip Resistant (Safety) Floorings to BS EN 13845. Laboratory based ramp test specifically for resilient floor coverings with enhanced slip resistance. The test uses standardised footwear and soapy water contamination.

The enhanced slip resistance for products covered under this standard comes with added particles such as quartz, carborundum or cork in the body (homogeneous construction) or the wear layer (heterogeneous construction) of the product.

It is important to note that floors performing well in the test do not necessarily perform well with clean water contamination.

BS 7976

A recently withdrawn standard that describes the specification, operation and calibration of the Pendulum Test, used for assessment of floor surface slipperiness under both dry and contaminated conditions. The results are reported as Pendulum Test Value or Slip Resistance Value and are approximately 100 times the coefficient of friction (CoF x 100).

BS EN 13036-4

Introduced to replace BS 7976. The HSE is lobbying BSI to reinstate BS 7976. In The HSE's opinion BS EN 13036-4 is not appropriate for measuring slip resistance of pedestrian surfaces.

Installation

Careful installation is important where a safety floor is jointed to another floor type, to avoid any ridges or change in level. In these scenarios the differing characteristics of the two floor types should be considered.

The occurrence of slips can be greater where the user moves from one type of floor to another, and does not anticipate the change in characteristics.

Maintenance

The cleaning of a safety floor is integral to maintaining its slip performance. Cleaning methods range from proprietary chemical cleaning to simple methods such as spot cleaning, mopping and sweeping. However obvious these methods may be, it is important to select a method and schedule to effectively remove the contaminants that are expected.

In a school or office, for example, there is time available for cleaning when the occupants are not using the building, but where a space is in constant use, such as in a hospital or airport, this may be more difficult.

Flooring with a PUR coating requires specific cleaning methods. The use of floor polishing equipment and seals will reduce the slip resistance.

The UK Slip Resistance Group , a trade organisation, has guidance on choosing the right cleaning method. 

Pricing

Capital cost may vary from around £20/m2 for a product suitable for light commercial use, up to £40/m2 for a very heavy-duty specification, which has added particles to enhance slip resistance.