EXPERT ADVICE
always use floor cleaning solutions and finishes with a high coefficient of friction (COF). Typically a finish, for instance, with a 0.5 or 0.6 COF provides adequate friction to help prevent a slip from occurring. (These are US standards; may differ in the UK)
Next the strategy involves building users. Cleaning professionals cannot be everywhere at all times. Each facility should encourage building users to report spills and potential floor hazards as soon as they are noticed. The key here is for building users to be encouraged to remain vigilant, watching for spills wherever they can occur.
For cleaning professionals, steps to take once a spill has been reported include the following:
• Grab a warning cone designating a floor safety hazard. This should be installed at the hazard as soon as the hazard has been noticed and should remain installed after cleanup operations have been completed. This prevents a situation such as in the fast food restaurant discussed earlier.
• Before taking any cleanup steps, workers should make sure their shoes effectively grip the floor. Moisture, oil, grease, or food from a spill can turn some shoes into a snow ski.
• Remove solid waste. If, for instance, a container of fruit has spilled on the floor, sweep and collect all the fruit as well as the container, taking extra precautions if it is glass.
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• Avoid using a mop. Mops can leave a floor looking clean but looking clean and being clean are not the same thing; very often, a soiled mop will leave a film on the floor that can potentially cause a slip and fall accident.
This final step is important to understand. It’s quite likely that ‘colony- forming units’ (CFUs) of germs and bacteria are growing on a mop that is frequently used. These CFUs produce the film just mentioned, possibly even a slime that can spread on the floor during a cleanup operation. In such cases, the mop is actually working against our goal of preventing a slip and fall accident.
ALTERNATIVES There are alternatives to using mops that are safer and faster, with no CFUs. For instance, one system is called a ‘dispense-and-vac’ floor cleaning system. To explain how it works, let’s use our fast food restaurant spill as an example:
• The spill has been noticed by a staffer and a warning sign is posted.
• The base of the dispense-and-vac system is a trolley bucket. Fill with fresh water and cleaning solution and roll it to the problem area.
• At the problem area, and after solid debris has been removed, the unit is rolled over the spill, dispensing cleaning solution directly to the floor as it moves.
• If needed, a deck brush, not a mop, is used to agitate the problem area and loosen soils.
“The bottom line is slips and falls happen and
they will always happen. What is needed to
address this situation is
to develop some type of effective spill response programme.”
• The system’s built-in vacuum extracts the moisture, the spill, and any remaining debris.
The floor is now clean and completely dry. It will not be necessary to leave a warning cone over the problem area, however leaving it up for a few minutes helps promote safety and is prudent.
This is an example of an effective spill response programme. Many retailers, who have been dealing with slip and fall accidents as a result of spills, have been implementing just such a programme in their stores. While it will not help prevent every spill-related slip and fall accident, such programmes are expected to have a significant impact in reducing the numbers and the seriousness of these accidents, which is a major step in the right direction.
www.kaivac.com Tomorrow’s Cleaning Floorcare Supplement | 13
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