Floor Safety for Everyone

Floors take the brunt of our everyday activities and are usually the first surfaces to reflect wear and tear. No matter the function of your space, it is crucial that it is equipped with a flooring solution geared toward safety, that will not only hold up to heavy use but also maintain its appearance.

Healthcare

From hospitals to clinics, doctor’s offices and medical centres, flooring in the healthcare plays an important role in wellbeing, healing and overall patient experience. Factors such as comfort, durability, patient mobility, hygiene and maintenance are all very important. Whatever floor surface is chosen, it is essential that it meet slip resistant requirements to ensure the safety of visitors and staff.

Offices and Corporate

Office buildings are often ripe for these types of accidents, in part because of the sheer volume of people coming and going at any time. Dangerous premises can lead to slip and fall accidents.  The owner or occupier of property has a legal duty to anyone who enters the building -employees, business visitors or personal visitors– not to subject them to an unreasonable risk of injury because of the design, construction or condition of that property.

Education

Educational facilities have increased safety risks for a number of reasons. Harder, more serviceable floor surfaces usually chosen for schools are generally less slip resistant than carpet. Students need to transition from area to area, often accessing outdoor areas which can lead to tracking of water into areas that are considered dry areas. Furthermore, children tend to move a faster pace – running, skipping and jumping their way through the day increasing the risks of slip and fall accidents.

Retail and Commercial

Smooth, hard surfaces lend a beautiful aesthetic to retail and commercial spaces, but can also greatly increase the risk of slips and falls for customers, as well as employees.  The more porous a surface, the harder it is to keep clean.  For this reason, most architects, builders and property owners look for a relatively non-porous floor as they are an easy to maintain surface.

Unfortunately, the less porosity a surface has, the more slippery it is likely to be – especially when wet.  Imagine walking on wet glass, its lack of porosity makes it like a skating rink. It's the responsibility of these store owners to make sure that their staff and their customers don't hurt themselves in their store.

Factory and Industrial

Safety officers in factories and the other industrial sectors are tasked with the responsibility of providing a workplace that is free from serious health hazards. A safe work environment impacts a project’s bottom line both directly and indirectly. Cost associated with workplace accidents, including lost costs, Worksafe claims, insurance costs and legal fees are minimized in a safe work environment.

A safe work environment boosts employee morale, which, in turn, increases productivity, efficiency and profit margins. When people feel like they have a good, safe work environment, they feel like they can make a difference. There are fewer staff absences, less staff turnover and an improved quality of work.

Construction

The National Construction Code (NCC) is a performance-based code containing all Performance Requirements for the construction of buildings. It is built around a hierarchy of guidance and code compliance levels, with the Performance Requirements being the minimum level that buildings, building elements, and plumbing and drainage systems must meet. A building will comply with the NCC if it satisfies the Performance Requirements, which are the mandatory requirements of the NCC. 

Developers and builders should ensure that certificates demonstrating the compliance of purchased and installed materials comply with the certification documents/building approval.