Health and safety in the workplace is a serious issue. Claims made against companies from employees falling over due to lack of adequate floor maintenance can add up to a lot of losses for a business. As well as having to pay injury costs, the company also has to cope with employees being absent due to the injury. Sometimes though, the repercussions of an injury when dangerous chemicals are involved, or in the presence of water, can be a lot more threatening to health than a twisted ankle. From swimming pool walk ways to heavy duty chemical laboratory corridors, there are private and public areas where the safety of workers and civilians depends on a sure footing on a non slip surface.
The term industrial flooring can cover anything from astro-turf to anti-fatigue flooring. It is basically, it is a hard wearing and durable covering used on a large scale for areas with extremely heavy people traffic. Trains and planes; hotels and residential homes will have heavy duty carpet. Hospitals and laboratories will have easy clean synthetic vinyl. Car parks and train stations will have non-slip gutter covers and gratings. Even dock-sides, jetties and swimming pools need a form of decking that is safe to walk on.
Traditionally, these areas would have used concrete, metal, timber, or wool as a flooring material. However, these materials can have their downfalls. Timber for example can distort and warp from exposure to wet conditions, or excessive heat. Too much sun can both bleach the wood, and in the presence of water, cause algal or fungal growth to occur. Concrete is a heavy material to use, and although it is solid, it is not suitable for use in areas where strict hygiene standards are in place to minimise contamination from an illness or chemical. Metal is also a heavy product when used for gratings and covers. Although hard wearing, some metals are prone to rusting and all are slippery when water is present. Traditional wool carpeting can create static, attract dirt and cannot be made fire retardant as easily as its synthetic counterparts.
In fact, synthetic variations of traditional materials are proving to be the way industry is heading to solve safe flooring needs. Through a variety of fabrication methods, composites can be made to suit any use or application from gym mats to stair gratings. The importance lies in the longevity of the material and the ease of production versus cost. Some of the most versatile products are made from fibreglass. As the name suggests, fibreglass is composed from fibres of glass and is used as a reinforcement component in products to make composite materials. It has a weight to surface area ratio that makes it a lightweight and economic option for large areas. Another popular material for flooring construction is rubber.
Rubber matting is versatile and suitable for many uses in commercial and industrial applications. It is resilient to heat so suited to high temperature environments and it can be manufactured into any form from stair coverings to gym mats. It’s anti-fatigue properties make it an ideal covering for factory workstations and walkways, and being such a hard wearing surface, it is an economical choice for employee comfort. It is also suited to areas where water or hazardous chemicals may be present as the versatility of its production combined with its durability means manufacturing sections with open holes does not affect the performance of the product. These advances in flooring technology not only lead to safer working and public spaces, but ultimately add to the economic benefits of investing in composite floor materials by reducing accidents in the workplace.
About the author of this article:
dominic donaldson is an expert in the industrial flooring industry.
find out more about industrial flooring and how the right floor can reduce accidents at dura composites.
