The floor finish industry has made great advances in improving the performance, ease of use, and safety of commercial floor finishes, but has done very little to educate the consumer as to such advances. 

 

In fact, most people refer to floor finishes as floor wax as if they are the same.

 

In order for cleaning professionals, facility managers and others to better manage slip-and-fall accidents, the manufacturers must provide clearer information on their products’ real-world performance.

 

Manufacturers must come forward with more meaningful information as to how their products’ slip resistance qualities are affected by external effects like:

 

  •  Buffing

 

  •  Cleaning

 

  •  Foot traffic

 

  •  Wet hazards

 

(Read “Slip resistant, not slip proof in the sidebar to learn the difference between these two terms.)

 

Setting a new standard

 

The not-for-profit National Floor Safety Institute (NFSI) has developed a new standard for product safety.

 

Under this new standard, manufacturers can submit their products for two-phase testing:

 

  •  Phase 1 testing requires the product to be tested with the NFSI’s Universal Walkway tester (UWT) for its wet slip resistance.  If the product meets an SCOF value of 0.6 or greater, it will become eligible for phase 2 testing.

 

  •  Phase 2 requires the product to be tested in a “real-world” application for a 30-day period. 

 

During this time the product will be exposed to real world wear and tear conditions.

 

Following testing, the material is cleaned per the manufacturer’s recommendation and re-tested with the UWT. 

 

If the material again meets the 0.6 standard it will become classified as “High Traction” and permitted to carry the NFSI “Certified” label. (fig.3)

 

(Read “Predicting slips” in the sidebar to learn the likelihood of slipping on a slip-resistant floor finish.)

 

Tracking traction

 

Using high traction products in high-risk areas will deliver the quickest return on their investments, giving cleaning professionals maximum results in the shortest amount of time. 

 

During the design phase of an addition or renovation project, high traction products should be specified in all high-risk areas including:

 

  • Front entryways

 

  • Commercial kitchens

 

  • Bathing surfaces

 

  • Swimming pool decks

 

  • Restrooms

 

  • Other wet areas 

 

On a daily basis, facility managers and cleaning professionals should focus efforts to use high traction products in all environments where a risk is great.

 

Those include:

 

  • Grocery stores, where the need is just about everywhere from the produce area where fruits and vegetables can fall onto the floor to the soft drink aisle where occasional spills happen

 

  • Hospitality industry, the needs of which include guest bathroom floors, swimming pool decks and front entryways

 

  • Hospitals/ nursing homes, where the focus is on patient hallways and room floors, operating room floors, emergency room floors and kitchens.

 

The use of high traction products will not prevent every slip-and-fall accident but, rather, will buy the user valuable time from when the hazard was created to when it can be removed.

 

Delivering superior wet slip resistance reduces the likelihood of an accidental slip but is still no substitute for good housekeeping.

 

Russell Kendzior is the founder and executive director of the National Floor Safety Institute, www.nfsi.org. To reach him, call (817) 749-1700 or e-mailed russk@nfsi.org.