SUBSTANCE AND STYLE


As safety flooring has evolved to meet demand for brighter and more contemporary designs, Polyflor offers advice on making the right selection.


Many years ago, a purchaser of safety flooring was faced with a simple choice, it was available in any colour as long as it was grey. With function not form being all important, safety flooring tended to be laid in traditional commercial areas where spillages would occur.


Fast forward twenty years or so and the vinyl safety flooring world we now see today is much more sophisticated and a significantly different animal. Warmer, brighter and more contemporary designs are now available which are far removed from the institutional, clinical look of old.


“Safety flooring with virtually invisible


particles and sustainable wet slip resistance


has become a major consideration for


designers for creating a wow factor.”


Traditional safety floors often include dark aggregate to provide friction which is very visible, whereas the carborundum-free particles used in modern ranges are similar to the tone of the floor’s base colour and therefore give the look of smooth vinyl but with the performance of a safety floor.


Thanks to the technological advances from flooring manufacturers such as Polyflor, safety flooring with virtually invisible particles and sustainable wet slip resistance has become a major consideration for designers for creating a wow factor. Built-in safety has become a client expectation rather than just a wish on a specifier’s checklist.


Everyone in the specification chain has a duty of care to ensure that a


36 | SAFETY FLOORING


In terms of safety floor credentials, all products specified to provide slip resistance in wet conditions should meet EN 13845, which is the European Safety Flooring standard for particle based flooring. To meet the criteria for this standard, safety flooring must pass the 50,000 cycles abrasion test to ensure long term, sustainable slip resistant performance of the aggregates used within the product.


Products specified as safety floors should also be Health & Safety Executive (HSE) Compliant and offer a low potential for slip. The production processes used to develop HSE


www.tomorrowscontractfloors.com


suitable safety flooring is selected for areas where there are risks of spillages and surface water. Therefore it is always important for clients to check that the manufacturer can support slip resistance test method claims in accordance with HSE & UK Slip Resistance Group Guidelines.


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