INDUSTRIAL FLOORING | FLOWCRETE AN INDUSTRIAL SOLUTION
Industrial and commercial resin flooring manufacturer Flowcrete UK discusses key flooring considerations when specifying for specific industrial sectors.
An industrial facility will inevitably subject its floor finish to a long list of damaging factors; with heavy impacts, intense cleaning, forklift truck movement, moisture ingress, thermal shock and exposure to chemicals being just a few of the challenges that the floor will need to withstand.
If the chosen system is not up to the task, then it can have serious consequences on the productivity and standards of the site, as well as the health and safety of employees, on-site aesthetics, cleanliness, downtime and, in some cases, a poor floor can even affect the smooth running of important equipment.
Flowcrete UK has developed an extensive amount of experience working within a variety of industrial sectors and has compiled the following advice to help facilities managers and site operators ensure that the floor beneath their feet will actively optimise the working environment.
FOOD AND BEVERAGE Food manufacturing environments are exposed to a wide variety of corrosive by-products and contaminants, including fats, hot oils, blood, sugar solutions and natural food acids - all of which can deteriorate insufficiently robust surfaces in a clean zone, resulting in uncontrolled bacterial growth and putting the site at risk of contamination incidents.
To ensure the sanitary integrity of the production area, it is essential to have a floor finish that facilitates fast and effective cleaning to wash all of the contaminants out of the area. To achieve this, the floor needs to be seamless and impervious, and have coving and stainless steel drainage incorporated into the finish. All of these properties need to be maintained for an extended period of time despite the chemicals, temperatures, impacts and wear that a large- scale food manufacturing facility will inflict on the floor.
To minimise contamination risks as much as possible, HACCP International has evaluated building materials that have been tested to a high hygiene standard. The Flowfresh range of antimicrobial enhanced, polyurethane floors have been HACCP International certified thanks to its ability to consistently provide a clean, high- performance finish within food and beverage environments.
The antimicrobial agent, Polygiene® , is included within every Flowfresh
floor. This silver ion-based additive is able to eliminate 99.9% of bacteria in contact with the floor. Flowfresh meets the ISO 22916 standard, which measures a surface’s antibacterial effectiveness.
The combination of HACCP International certification and ISO 22196 compliance proves that Flowfresh is uniquely tailored to meet the industry’s stringent hygiene demands.
Many food processing environments are prone to wet working conditions, for example in fish processing or dairy facilities. To avoid painful slips and trips, the floor can be textured to enhance traction underfoot and make it safer for workers moving around on-site.
DISTRIBUTION & WAREHOUSING The floor finish in warehouse and distribution centres is crucial to the “smooth” running of the facility, as any bumps, cracks or flaws can have serious consequences on the ability of lift trucks to move quickly among the narrow racking systems.
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To achieve this, both the screed and finish need to be laid flat and level in every direction to Surface Regularity (SR) 1 so that lift trucks moving across the finish remain stable.
Flowcrete UK can provide specialist screeds and resin finishes formulated to create floors that meet this strict standard of smoothness and flatness. This includes self-levelling and semi- dry cementitious screeds (e.g. Flowscreed Industrial Top, Isocrete K-Screed) combined with poured in-situ resins and high build coatings (e.g. Flowshield SL, Flowcoat SF41).
Signage can be utilised within a warehouse to improve workflow around the site by making the most efficient routes around the facility easy to identify. It is also an effective way to highlight important safety issues; such as areas that include hazardous materials or where cross contamination is a concern.
REFURBISHMENT & REPAIR JOBS Flooring refurbishment projects require solutions that are going to revitalise the floor finish but which won’t incur long periods of problematic and unprofitable down time.
Flowcrete’s fast-curing screeds and methyl methacrylate enhanced Flowfast range are ideal for creating high-performance surfaces within a fraction of the time of alternative hard-floor systems – in fact a Flowfast floor can be trafficable in as little as two hours after application!
The chosen refurbishment solution needs to suit the demands of the environment and its future use as well as the project’s financial and time constraints. Flowcrete UK’s wide range of flooring options means that there’s always a flooring system available to meet both the site’s budget and operational requirements.
Existing substrates that need to be renovated prior to the application of a new floor covering can be brought back up to standard with a layer of Isocrete Self Level Renovation. This cementitious, fibre-reinforced and pumped self-levelling underlayment can even be laid over existing finishes to prepare the floor for a new covering.
www.flowcrete.co.uk TOMORROW’S CONTRACT FLOORS YEARBOOK 2016/17
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