Hard Floor Cleaning Practices to Consider: Slip And Fall Prevention

Some automated cleaning equipment utilizes vacuum technology that cleans a floor with water or chemical solutions and then immediately dries the floor surface.

This prevents water and solution from seeping into a floor’s base materials, which can lead to long-term damage.

It also improves safety as reducing slip and fall incidents has become a serious concern.

As it has been reported, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), has even revised itsWalking and Working Surfaces regulations, requiring that facilities have an effective cleaning process and incorporate more stringent oversight.

To help ensure that the proper precautions are taken, the National Floor Safety Institute (NFSI) — one of several groups that help identify key criteria that should be considered when selecting cleaning chemicals, equipment and procedures — offers independent product testing for equipment and product manufacturers.

One of NFSI’s tests evaluates products’ slip resistance, and incorporating the slip resistance test results with the product makes purchasing decisions easier for end users.

With the aid of such information, facility managers can select the proper equipment and ensure that the most stringent safety measures and guidelines are met.

Check back next week to read about minimizing building disruptions.

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. 

Get a Grip on Slips

This article was originally published in EHS Today

What's the best way to prevent slips and falls? Based on the number of injuries in the workplace due to slippery floor conditions, there is no simple answer.

Any one solution -- be it slip-resistant shoes, mats or worker awareness -- will not eliminate the hazard. EHS professionals who want to implement, upgrade or review their slip-prevention programs need to ensure that they consider all aspects of what causes a slip and what can be done to reduce or eliminate one of the workplace's most common hazards. One key solution is proper floor care.

Keeping floors clean and clutter-free is one of the best ways to reduce hazards. Here are several common-sense tips to keeping floors clean and free of contaminants:

• Clean up spilled liquids or tracked-in water immediately by mopping or using an absorbent material.
• Sweep up loose debris.
• Inspect flooring surfaces for holes, chips or other trip hazards and make necessary repairs.
• Eliminate chronic hazards by implementing design changes, such as machine guards, and frequent equipment inspection and servicing.
• Select a floor cleaner that enhances slip resistance and does not leave a slippery residue.

Unless all floor surfaces can be inspected constantly, it is impractical to assume that contaminants will always be cleaned up immediately. Even hourly inspections, for example, may not be often enough.

When leaks and spills are unavoidable, keep contaminants away from walkways by using absorbent materials, nonabsorbent barriers and containment decking. Once liquid is contained, retrieve it with a vacuum or pump for reuse or recycling. Use warning signs, safety cones or barricade tape if you notice hazards such as broken, protruding or loose debris in walkways, or newly waxed or mopped floors not cordoned off.

Read the full article to learn about other tips to reduce slips and falls.