HEALTHCARE FLOORING
Contributing to a positive, healthy care environment
Over the past few years, there have been many discussions and debates had, and learned articles published, on how the built environment positively or negatively impacts end-users – with the healthcare sector being a particular area of focus. Here Sharron Kapellar, National Framework Manager at Forbo Flooring Systems, discusses what she dubs ‘the change in healthcare design’, and explains how well-considered flooring specification can contribute to a healing environment.
As a sector, we now well understand the impact that an environment can have on both patient wellbeing and employee productivity. Thus as new hospitals and other healthcare establishments are developed – or existing healthcare buildings are refurbished – much thought is now being placed on the design of the space within, to encourage patient healing and positively impact on clinical and non- clinical staff, in order for them to deliver the right kind and level of care. There are, of course, many factors to consider when it comes to designing an effective hospital, including – as just a few examples – natural light, re-thinking the layout to enable easy navigation throughout the building, colour, and the materials used. However, one factor which is absolutely key to the design of any area within a healthcare facility is the specification of floorcoverings. Although floors are only one part of a healthier and more comfortable environment, they play an important role in design, and offer multiple benefits, including enhancing aesthetics, adding to the feel of a room, contributing to improved infection control, and helping to create a hygienic environment. I will focus on a number of different settings within a hospital or healthcare facility, and discuss which floorcoverings are best suited to each.
Entrances
Round-the-clock staff shifts, and a constant flow of visitors, mean hospital entrance areas can take quite a pounding, with wetness and dirt trailed into the reception area and beyond. Not only can this damage interior floorcoverings, but it also creates unnecessary health and safety hazards. However, installing a well- designed and effective entrance flooring system can address these.
Creating an effective entrance flooring system, of course, involves thinking about footfall – the number of people walking in and out in a given period – and the directions they take once inside the building. Rigid systems placed outside
Stopping moisture and dirt’s ingress The industry recommendation is to use at least three metres of an entrance flooring system for light use areas, and up to seven metres for busy entrance areas. The general rule is that the more matting used, the more effective the entrance flooring system is at preventing dirt and moisture from entering a building, in addition to greatly reducing ongoing maintenance costs.
Corridors
Corridors should be designed to increase the efficiency of how staff, patients, and visitors, manoeuvre through a building,
An extension at the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy features over 40,000 m2
of
Forbo’s Marmoleum and Step safety flooring ranges, ‘meeting the project’s strict hygiene, durability, and sustainability requirements’.
will defend against soil and the coarsest of foot-borne dirt. In addition, some rigid systems can be reversible, effectively doubling their lifespan. Once inside the building, textile options are designed to remove foot-borne moisture and finer dirt particles. Zoning, and combining internal and external entrance flooring systems, can optimise performance – depending on the entrance type and location.
while also turning waiting rooms, single patient rooms, or wards, into a series of dead-ends to separate circulation from destination. They should also be designed to withstand heavy footfall and wheeled traffic. With this in mind, there is a range of floorcoverings suitable for corridors, depending on needs and preferences, but there are a number of factors that should be taken into consideration before a choice is made. For example, the floorcovering selected should be durable and hard-wearing enough to withstand wheeled traffic, resistant to chemicals, scratches, or stains, should help to enhance the lighting, contribute to the indoor air quality and noise reduction, and, importantly, provide a design that will help to create the desired ambience.
One floorcovering that fits the bill is homogeneous vinyl, such as Forbo’s Sphera Element range, which offers a balanced palette of colours, with almost half of the colours having Light Reflectance Values (LRVs) higher than 40%, in order to maximise the effect of
May 2019 Health Estate Journal 53
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