Slips Trips Falls

Fall injuries are the leading cause of liability loss claims and rank as the second leading cause of accidental deaths for 45 to 75-year-olds. Scientific institutions throughout the world have recognized that slips and falls are a significant problem. Whether it is due to a trip or a slip, there are methods and means to reduce the occurrence of falls.

Vidal Engineering specializes in Floor Safety/Design consulting and testing, as this specialized area of concern represents a significant opportunity for industry to reduce losses that occur as the result of slip, trip and fall accidents.

Many architects now look for specialized materials that reduce the likelihood of slips, trips and falls. Unfortunately, there is a lot of construction that takes place where there is little thought put into pedestrian safety issues.

Architects, construction managers, engineers and risk managers have used our services to make cost effective decisions regarding the safety of a floor: that has been installed for some time; is being installed; or is being considered for a particular application or environment. Let Vidal Engineering assist you in making informed decisions based upon testing and experience.

There are many companies peddling what are purported to be "safe" floor materials. While looking through the manufacturer's technical specifications, you might notice that the material has been tested for slip resistance. Unbeknownst to most people, some of these companies are providing misinformation, and some of them just don't know that some slip resistance testers are not valid for testing under wet conditions. Most floor manufacturers have their floor material tested with the venerable James Machine (ASTM D-2047) or a horizontal dynamometer pull-meter (ASTM C-1028). Neither of these devices can be legitimately used for wet testing.

As alarming as all this is, there is more!!!! There are manufacturers of various slip resistance testing devices (Tribometers), of the drag sled variety, that claim or imply that their meter complies with ASTM C 1028 (Horizontal Dynamometer Pull-Meter Method), or F 609 (Horizontal Pull Slipmeter (HPS)). Beware of these devices as some are nothing more than Rube Goldberg devices, and others are just worthless boat anchors posing as inexpensive scientific hardware.

Find out:

The who's, where's, why's, when's and how's about the testing that was performed.

Which ASTM, ANSI, or UL approved standard was the floor material tested with?

If you are concerned about slip resistance under wet conditions, make sure the tests were done according to either ASTM test method F-1677 or F-1679, as these are the only two test methods that are currently acceptable for testing slip resistance under wet conditions. It is also important that your consultant is a certified user of the VIT, if that is the instrument they are using to test your floors/materials. See the Newsletter on certified consultants

If you feel you need further verification on the safety of the flooring material you are installing, have specified, or currently have installed, Vidal Engineering is your source for the most up-to-date information on floor safety engineering and slip resistance testing.