The future of slip testing

Slip testing standards differ from one country to another, but there are certain standards that seem to be congruous to all affected countries. Slip testing is mainly done on flooring and flooring products, under various types of conditions. However, some industry insiders think that more needs to be done to increase safety against slip accidents especially at work.

The hospital industry, for example, has insisted that all workers wear a special kind of shoe that is resistant to slips, even if there are spills on the floor. What of the restaurant industry, and others? Slip testing officials feel that there is need for standardization of workplace footwear, to reduce slip and fall accidents especially amongst employees.

Other issues arise such as standardization of the quality of the flooring materials across all countries. Although this may be a bit embellished, they do raise an important issue. Imported flooring material should be properly tested according to the standards of the destination country. If it is tested to lower standards, then slip and fall accidents may happen when the new building is put up and used for a while.

The standards of the slip resistance test are governed by the resident country, but there should be an international standard that should be adhered to by all nations that are signatory to such a standard or organization.

This may be a big ask at the moment, but it is important that all slip resistance experts do see a way of standardizing slip resistance test requirements.

Today, most will use other materials to make up for any differences in these standards. Some will insist that imported floors are subjected to treatments to improve the friction, or certain mates are placed on the floors to stop slippage. This is an extra cost to the owner of the building, and if the floors were imported to certain international standards, such costs would not be necessary.

The whole issue of a global slip resistance test standard may seem like a fairy tale, but probably all international organizations started off in the same way. It just requires that the experts and public do their due diligence and come up with standards that are equal all over the world.

If you are a slip resistance testing expert, then this is something that you should mull over, even as you go about your work. Discuss it with other experts and see if there is a way to start such an organization. Petition the government and national standards body and ask for deliberations to be made for international standards that are similar all over the world.

If you are a member of the public, do give your input and see how much your opinion matters. If you want more information on slip resistance test standards, kindly do give us a call, and our team will be ready to explain them to you, and why they are very important to public health and safety.