Canadian Occupational Safety

36 Canadian Occupational Safety | www.cos-mag.com W hen the owners of ICON Safety C on su lt i ng i n Camrose, A lta., were deciding on the kind of flooring they should put in, they had two main considerations in mind: the expected foot traffic and Alberta winters. "We figured, it is a concrete floor. It's going to get slippery with snow and mud. So we decided to put in mats that are removable and clean- able," says Jodi Tetz, general manger at ICON Safety Consulting. "We also decided to go with heavier, really good mats, so they don't roll and cause a tripping hazard. We wanted to make sure the mats themselves couldn't slide and cause a hazard. Par- ticularly because we're a safety place, we didn't want tripping hazards." Slips and trips occur in all indus- tries and are among the most common causes of workplace inju- ries. In many cases, the floor surface is an important factor in the incident: floors may be uneven, wet or dirty; carpeting or mats may be unsuitable, loose or damaged. Knowing what kind of flooring will prevent slips and trips and is best suited to the condi- tions of a particular workplace will help reduce injuries. Most types of flooring are relatively slip-resistant when dry. However, any contaminate — water, dust, oil or sol- vents — can substantially reduce the non-slip effectiveness. Traction is also greatly reduced when a surface, like concrete, vinyl and timber, has been polished. Worn surfaces, which are especially a problem with steel and concrete, will increase slipperiness. In general, the duller a surface is, the more slip-resistant it is. Before choosing anti-slip flooring, companies should make sure the product has been properly tested, says Erick Schuetz, vice-president of sales and marketing at Streetsboro, Ohio- based Safeguard Technology. Slips occur where there is too little friction or traction between the footwear and walking surface. The slip-resistance of flooring is established through labora- tory testing and is expressed in terms of its "coefficient of friction" (COF). The higher the value, the less slippery the surface. Generally, a COF of 0.5 is recommended, although some work tasks may require a higher COF. Flooring should be tested when the surface is not just dry and flat but also with water, oil and on an incline to simulate a ramp. What gives flooring its slip resis- tance is its grit (or aggregate) surface, which provides traction through the presence of hard, rough edges that grip footwear. This grip is sometimes created by quartz or silica sand (such as in coatings and tapes) or aluminum oxide. However, due to its durability, the component most often used to create grit is epoxy; it is the preferred grit in industrial, commercial work sites. Where finer grit is required, a variety of materials are used, includ- ing alkyds or acrylics. This top, grit layer is affixed to a base material, commonly PVC (vinyl), steel or aluminum. Fibreglass is also used, particularly where there is heavy traffic, says Nigel Altman, president of Toronto-based No Skid- ding Products. Common applications are in mass transit and heavy indus- trial sites, including factories, where oils and hydraulic fluids are used. MATS AND TILES Anti-slip mats and tiles, which may be interlocked to fit together during installation, are usually made of rubber, PVC or polyurethane and have a grit surface of a hard substance, such as silicon carbide. Traction may be increased by the use of knobbed, ribbed or corrugated top surfaces — useful in workplaces, such as food processing plants, where there is a lot of grease in the environment. "If you drop grease on something that is completely flat and smooth, then it smears out and can become very slippery. But if you drop grease on something and there is a centi- metre or so of very small knobs, the grease will fall down in between the knobs, away from the surface," says Hans Lofgreen, president of Jenelex in Toronto. To reduce the risk of tripping, mats often have bevelled edges: The edges incline gradually to the floor. (Bev- elled edges can also be added to tiles.) In contrast, standard mats and those when Slippery Wet Non-slip mats, flooring treatments and coverings increase traction and reduce slip and trip incidents By Linda Johnson

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