Profiled flooring materials such as five-bar aluminium chequer-plate are often perceived as slip resistant and commonly used to control slip risk in industrial workplaces. For example, walkways, stairs and platforms in many food factories are made from or covered with this material. Similar materials are used in other high-risk areas such as elevated work platforms and tail lifts fitted to commercial vehicles. The experience of workplace slip accidents suggests that these surfaces may not offer the slip resistance expected when contaminated. In the UK, the pendulum test has been used by the Health & Safety Laboratory (HSL) to measure the frictional properties of these surfaces where accidents have occurred, often indicating low levels of friction. To explore this technique further, modifications were made to the slider dimensions in order to allow measurements of specific elements of the profiled surface. This will allow the pendulum to be used to characterise individual components within profiled floors and allow small areas of wear or defects to be better evaluated. Of course, it is difficult to separate the properties of the flooring from those of the footwear, and it is important to understand how the two work together in a particular environment. HSL have undertaken footwear slip resistance testing on five-bar aluminium chequer plate using the ramp method. The results show that the selection of slip resistant footwear, which can be difficult on simple surfaces, is even more difficult in combination with a profiled surface. Without testing particular shoes on the surface, it is hard to predict their behaviour.
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