Ensure the Wellbeing of Your Employees with Safety Flooring

Whether in a warehouse, restaurant, health facility, or school ensuring the appropriate flooring in your premises is an essential consideration in any commercial property.

Following government Health and Safety laws, floors must be suitable for either the work being completed on them or for the public’s safety in general. Ranging from anti-slip to easy clean and hygienic there are plenty of choices of safety flooring to meet your specific requirements.

Find out below why you should consider safety flooring, and how the expert team at Rivendell can assist you below.

Health and Safety Legislation

As a business owner, you are solely responsible for following the correct safety guidelines to ensure a risk free working enviornment. Guidelines set out in The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act (1974) and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations (1999) aim to ensure that any person entering the workplace is kept safe from harm meaning all risks have to be properly evaluated, removed, or sign posted to the appropriate level.

By its very name, safety flooring is an important part of the working environment in order for personnel to carry out their duties safely and effectively. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case in many working environments across the country. Did you know that slips and trips are the most common cause of injury at work? In fact, on average they equate to 40% of all reported major injuries in the UK.

This in mind, along with other measures that should undoubttedly be in place to ensure accidents don’t happen, it is essential to consider the current state of your flooring when assessing potential risks to your workforce; in fact it is a government requirement to do so. Ensuring the full health and safety of all employees and anyone who may be affected by the work, so far as is reasonably practicable, employers, among a host of other duties, will need to ensure that:

• flooring is not loose, damaged, or worn
• the appropriate flooring exists in areas which are susceptible to moisture and spillages
• floors and traffic routes are kept free from obstruction

We’ve also spoken to our friends over at Sureteam who work hard to take all of the stress out of Health and Safety for businesses so you can ensure the full safety of yourself, your staff, and your customers.

“20 years ago the only colour for safety flooring was grey and in general it wasn’t easy to clean. Now we have a bewildering array of colours and different products that can deal with a broad spectrum of places.

Everyone that specifies this type of flooring has a duty of care to ensure that the flooring is suitable and sufficient for the job as required by the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 – basically people should be able to move around their workplace in safety. Getting the flooring wrong could mean injuries for staff and costs for the employer.

Rivendell have the knowledge and skills to get the right products for each environment, first time”.

Sian MacGowan, PhD MIIRSM Tech IOSH, Sureteam Ltd

Why Safety Flooring?

Contaminants, whether liquids such as water or dry substances such as dust, can reduce the available friction on the flooring which may ultimately lead to a slip or injury. These contaminants create a film that prevents complete contact between shoes and the floor. In fact, research suggests that a wet film only needs to be 1-2 µm (micrometre) in thickness to prevent complete contact; that’s as small as one tenth of a human hair.

Safety flooring works by incorporating combinations of materials into a wear layer. A sufficient number of quality aggregate will penetrate the film to provide contact with the shoe whether a wet or dry contaminate.

Whether you’re looking for flooring for a restaurant, bar, health care facility, school or entrance hall for example there are a number of benefits to safety flooring other than providing excellent anti-slip capabilities. These might include:

• High Performance – such features are ideal in spaces such as sporting areas where the facilities are used often and for a number of activities with varying performance needs. It is also essential that they offer comfort under foot with a slight elasticity to reduce the risk of injury.
• Specialist Hardwearing– often found in ESD locations in the healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors, the environment of these floors are demanding. Antibacterial agents and the ability to curve up onto walls (in a bid to reduce additional residue) for rounded corners are highly recommended for both ease of cleaning and hygiene.
• Design – design doesn’t have to take a backseat. In fact, many of our suppliers enable you to choose from a variety of colours and include the option of relevant motifs and logos.

Help and Information from Rivendell

Having expertly installed safety flooring for businesses across the Bristol and Bath area for a number of years, our team are able to offer you sound advice regarding the best solution for your particular requirements.

Whatever your circumstances our team of experts can recommend the most appropriate flooring for you, take measurements in order to provide a detailed competitive quote, supply and fit your chosen floors and, provide a comprehensive after sales service.

For more information and advice regarding your needs give our knowledgeable and friendly team a call on 0117 963 7979.

Categorised in: For Commercial, Hints and Tips

This post was written by Binks