Preventing The Causes Of Slips And Falls

This article was originally published in Cleaning & Maintenance Management.

Although most likely to be identified as the primary cause of a slip-and-fall accident, please note that flooring materials, maintenance and hazards contribute to only about half of the problem.

That is to say, regardless of how safe the floor is, the remaining 50 percent of slips, trips and falls are attributable to four other areas.

These four contributing factors include:

• Footwear
• Fraud
• Hazard identification
• Training

Therefore, a prevention strategy should focus on a comprehensive approach that addresses all causes.

However, we must not neglect the vital topic of safe or unsafe floors as it relates to cleaning and maintenance.

Certain floor care practices also contribute to slips, trips and falls. Among these contributors to unsafe surfaces are:

• Using too much or too little of a floor care product
• Using the wrong cleaner for a particular surface
• Not following label instructions
• Not rinsing the floor care product, if required
• Not brushing the floor thoroughly, if required
• Not having or adhering to a routine floor maintenance schedule

Read the full article here to learn more about floor maintenance products. 

New Slip Resistance Test Method

This article was originally published by CleanLink. 

Slip-and-fall injuries have long been a standing problem for manufacturers and consumers of ceramic tile. However, a new industry standard stands poised to change how tile is tested. The ANSI/NFSI B101.3-2012 wet Dynamic Coefficient of Friction (DCOF) standard joins the 2009 release of the ANSI/NFSI B101.1 wet Static Coefficient of Friction standard and now provides manufacturers a comprehensive approach to quantifying the "Traction" levels of all types of ceramic, porcelain, and polished concrete materials.

In the past the slip resistance qualities of highly polished stone and porcelain materials could not be accurately measured. Russell Kendzior, Committee Secretary for the ANSI B101 standards committee states that: "wet SCOF testing simply wouldn't work on highly polished stone which the ANSI B101 committee had to go back to the drawing board to develop a better test method."

Read the full article at: http://www.cleanlink.com/news/article/New-Slip-Resistance-Test-Method-is-Published--14331