Safety Flooring
From Floor Coverings
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Safety Flooring
What is Safety Flooring?
Safety flooring is any type of flooring or flooring design that minimizes injury during a slip or fall. Rubber flooring is a great flooring design as it offers great impact resistance and absorbs much of the shock during a fall, minimizing bodily harm. Rubber, especially flooring made from recycled rubber such as tires (reducing cost), is a great solution if you're looking for a safe floor because not only is it highly slip resistant, it is also durable and resilient, and the upkeep on a recycled rubber floor is minimal.
For ceramic or concrete flooring, especially ones outdoors, a great way too keep you safe is to add special safety grooving and AST/95. Safety grooving involves cutting small, shallow grooves into the concrete or ceramic to add traction, minimizing the chance for a fall if it gets wet. There are also special chemical treatments for stairways and ramps, the main being flooring covers made from rubber that prevent slips.
What is the National Floor Safety Institute?
Safety Flooring is a critical component in connection with the prevention of slip and fall accidents and injuries at work, home and in playgrounds. In June of 2009 the National Floor Safety Institute (NFSI) reported that 2.2 million emergency room visits were the result of accidental falls. Not to mention that if someone slips and falls in your home, you could be liable for monetary damages. For this reason, most homeowner policies agree to pay for damages associated with the slip and fall injury of someone that is visiting you. Many workmen compensation claims are filed due to slip and fall injuries at work. Needless to say, installing safety flooring in your home or business is a smart thing to do.
Slip resistant qualities.
Finding good quality safety flooring takes a little time and research, but it should not be hard with the abundance of safety floor products available on the market. Not only does the safety flooring that you install need to possess slip resistant properties, but it also should have shock absorbing features as well. Some companies use recycled tire rubber to manufacture materials for floor coverings that are durable and slip-resistant. These rubber tiles can be purchased in many different colors and textures for an appealing appearance.
Extreme temperatures with safety flooring.
Another important feature that safety flooring needs to possess is the ability to withstand extreme temperatures. Safety flooring that resists cracking when installed in walk-in freezers will aid in the avoidance of trips and falls too. Again, slip-resistant features are important in walk-in freezers as ice has a tendency to form on the floor surface.
If you desire to make your concrete floor safer for walking on, one option is safety grooving. This is where shallow groove patterns are cut into the concrete floor thus adding an anti-slip feature. For ceramic and porcelain tiles that become slippery when wet, a chemical called AST/95 was developed to treat tiles with an anti-slip solution.
