SLIPS, TRIPS & FALLS
According to The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), there were more than 611,000 self-reported work-place injuries in 2014/15, with the majority of these being slips, trips and falls. Moreover, the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) estimates that there are more than 206,000 patient falls in hospital per year – 530 of which result in hip fractures.
Having a fall in the workplace is bad news for both employers and employees. The Health and Safety Executive says that one third of all major workplace injuries are from slips and falls, costing employers over £512m every year in lost production and other costs, and account for over half of all reported injuries to members of the public. They say that the main causes are uneven floor surfaces, unsuitable floor coverings, wet floors and poor housekeeping, amongst other things. Employees can then suffer long-term health issues due to injuries sustained during the fall.
As well as causing significant distress for the injured person, these types of accident can have a detrimental effect on everyone involved. For example, they can cause further strain on hospital resources and place a financial burden on businesses and employers, should the employee need time off work to recover or even sue for their injuries. As such, there are laws that aim to prevent such accidents; The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations require floors to be in a good condition, be suitable and of course, free from obstruction where possible. Also, where a floor is likely to be subject to frequent contamination, such as in bathrooms or canteens, people should be able to walk on it without the risk of slipping.
The Health and Safety Laboratory (HSL) has developed a slip potential model, which identifies important factors contributing to a slip – such as the floor material, contamination and cleaning regime. The body has also developed reliable and robust test methods, based on the pendulum test, to assess floor surface slipperiness; flooring materials are rated as a result of these tests.
The pendulum test can be used to assess slip resistance in both dry and contaminated conditions and measures the amount of friction on a floor surface to provide a slip potential
www.tomorrowshs.com
classification. If the test results in a value of 36 or higher, it is classified as low slip risk. The pendulum can be used for both laboratory and in-situ testing of floor surfaces.
“THERE ARE MORE THAN 206,000 PATIENT FALLS IN
HOSPITAL PER YEAR – 530 OF WHICH RESULT IN
HIP FRACTURES.”
Alongside the PTV test, surface roughness values can be helpful when selecting floor coverings where more viscous contamination might be expected. For example, in the hospitality industry, where the main contaminant is likely to be water, coffee or cold drinks, a surface roughness of 20 microns or higher should be sufficient to provide a low slip risk. However for areas where contaminants such as cooking stock or vegetable oil are expected, higher levels of surface roughness will be required.
DIN 51130, also known as the ramp test, is a laboratory-based test used to measure ex-factory slip resistance of a product expressed as the ‘R’ value. In simple terms, a ramp covered with the floor covering in question is lubricated with oil and the angle increased until the person walking on it slips. The ‘R’ value obtained is based on the angle of the incline at which the tester feels unsafe. The scale starts at R9 (the lowest slip resistance class) and runs to R13. It is important to understand that having a quoted “R” value does not indicate that a floor covering is a safety floor.
Safety floors with particle enhanced slip resistance that meet the requirements of EN13845 will provide sustainable slip resistance properties, which are required for areas where frequent contamination is expected.
When it comes to maintaining safety flooring, manual and machine cleaning is suitable, including the use of brushes and mops, as well as a rotary machine with a suitable brush. But the frequency of regular cleaning will depend on the amount of traffic, soiling levels and hygiene standards.
Indeed, installing a floor covering that is easy to clean is not only a great way to prevent falls, but it will also save money on maintenance in the long run. Depending on where you are in the country, a cleaner can cost £9-15 per hour – multiply this by the number of cleaners required, depending on how big the offices or place of work are, and you could end up spending a fortune on cleaning bills. However, by installing a well-designed and effective entrance flooring system, dirt and moisture from the soles of shoes and wheel treads will be removed, which will not only help to prevent slips and trips in the building, but also reduce cleaning costs.
According to Cleaning Research International, the cost of maintenance is 86% of the total life cycle cost of commercial floor coverings. However if you install an entrance flooring system, cleaning costs can be substantially reduced. Some systems on the market can remove up to 95% of dirt and moisture from the soles of shoes in just six steps – helping to reduce cleaning time by up to 65%. With savings such as this, an entrance flooring system can pay for itself within just six months of use.
Architect Dene King, from DK Architectural Services, stressed the importance of an entrance flooring system in a refurbishment project he completed for Hedley McEwan’s offices recently, where he specified Forbo Flooring’s Coral system. He said: “In addition to installing Forbo’s floor coverings throughout the building, we also installed its Coral Classic entrance flooring system in Warm Black. This was to ensure that dirt and moisture was removed from employee’s footwear before they continued further into the building - it will certainly help to reduce cleaning and maintenance bills for our client.”
Throughout the industry, there is a lot of choice when it comes to safety flooring. However, it is essential that you evaluate your options with assistance from a reputable flooring manufacturer. Experts, like Forbo, will provide you with all of the necessary technical advice required, no matter what size your building is, as well as keep you up to date with all of the latest trends.
www.forbo-flooring.co.uk/step 29
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60