Special Anti-slip finish for in and outdoors

SLIP HAZARD ON WOODEN FLOORS AND TERRACES

MECHANICAL AND CHEMICAL OPERATIONS CAN REDUCE THE RISKS

Photo – Osmo

Safety is assessed and regulated completely differently in public areas than in the private sphere. Whilst business operators must ensure that their workers are protected as much as possible from the risk of slipping during work, it is of no concern to legislators if private individuals want to risk falling on their faces from time to time on slippery or shiny floors or staircases. This is quite paradoxical since the risks in private dwellings could be greater than those in the workplace. That is perhaps a responsibility for floor fitters?

Slipping … so clumsy! Many people often take a dim view of slipping. The banana skin joke is never far away and accidents involving slipping are usually attrib uted to ‘carelessness’ on the part of the victim. Nevertheless, that is rather short sighted! The number of accidents each year as a result of ‘slipping’ is hallucinatory. Slips are said to account for 10 to 50% of all industrial accidents, depending on the study in question. About eight million working days are lost in France each year as a result of slipping. The fact is that all studies relate to ‘recorded’ incidents; this means that these figures relate solely to accidents which occur at work or which have been registered in a public area or on a public road. Anything which happens ‘at home’ on the terrace and around the swimming pool is seldom disclosed in public.

Slipping as a concept The slip resistance of a ‘dry’ floor is induced by the microscopic surface structure of the flooring material (BBRI). The rougher a floor is, the more rigid it feels. In dry conditions the rigidness of a floor largely depends on the ‘heel effect’. This is the effect whereby shoe sole material gets hooked to the unevenness of the floor surface. And so, the ductility of that surface and of the footwear also play a part. After all, some of a person’s kinetic energy is converted into distortion so that the movement itself is blocked. That is precisely why people wearing rubber soles are less likely to slip than those wearing leather soles, for instance. In the case of a damp floor the slippery surface is caused by the fact that it is difficult to get a grip because the water cannot drain fast enough. Therefore, the fluid prevents the sole from getting a good grip on the floor surface.

What affects the slip resistance? The BBRI has used two measuring methods to investigate what the most significant factors are in slip resistance.

Roughness of the floor surface The roughness of the floor surface is an extremely important factor for slip resistance. The rougher the surface is, the greater the slip resistance. And so, there are various methods which endeavour to make a floor less slippery by making it rougher.

Displacement space Another important factor for slip resistance is the so called displacement space. This is the amount of material (e.g. dirt, oil, or water) which can be applied to a surface without covering the tops of the profilings. This is expressed in cm 3 /dm 2 .

Completion level of a floor tile The completion level of a floor tile also affects the slip resistance. The more a floor is polished, the lower the slip resistance becomes. However, this also depends on the structure of the material.

Wear Floors which were originally quite rough can become extremely slippery as a result of wear. That wear can be attributed to a combination of use (footsteps) and (fine) dust. Whether or not a floor becomes slippery as a result of wear depends largely on the environmental conditions. For instance, floors in dwellings on the coast usually become less slippery in the course of time than floors in buildings in regions with loamy soil.

Surface treatments and slip resistance Test results show that impregnation agents and pore fillers have only a negligible effect on the slip resistance of floors. A film-forming treatment to protect a floor can certainly have significant consequences for slip resistance.

Chemical actions With mechanical operations (e.g. creating slopes or sandblasting) it is possible, for instance, to influence the dampness or roughness of a wooden floor. Actions suitable for doing that can be used mainly for (outdoor) terraces. There are various possible chemical actions for both in and outdoors.

Indoors The parquet industry has adopted solutions from the chemical industry, especially regarding the finish of wooden floors or wooden staircase steps. Whether we mean a finish with lacquer or oil, the addition of certain additives can drastically reduce the slipperiness of a floor surface.

Outdoors Some stains act simultaneously as a protective finish for outdoor wood and as security against slipping. For instance, there is one producer which has a transparent, silky gloss, and anti-slip stain based on solvents. This stain feeds and protects terrace wood, but it also makes it anti-slip through the presence of an anti-slip grain. We found another solution in a dual-component polyurethane product which, after the addition of a third component, is sprayed into the groove of a plank. During the setting process, the polyurethane is sprinkled with quartz sand to obtain a narrow and rigid line.

An overview

Blanchon

To understand this issue clearly, we need to know the difference between ‘slipping’ (sliding sideways when completing a movement) and ‘slipping over’ (falling over). There is a European standard for the former. The issue with outdoor terraces is that, apart from being walked on, they are also exposed to the weather, UV rays, and differences in temperature. If a terrace is dry, it is certainly not slippery. However, damp wood certainly can be slippery and terrace manufacturers soon found a solution by making terrace wood ribbed (a natural solution subject to regular maintenance). Unlike an anti-slip lacquer, which achieves its effect with added mineral particles, an oil cannot be made anti-slip in the same way. Blanchon believes that the aforementioned natural solution is to be recommended in combination, if necessary, with anti-slip strips. It is assumed that a finish for parquet and steps is non-slip and that real anti-slip treatments are meant for sports floors and for certain high-traffic public places. The anti-slip effect of finishes is obtained through the addition of tiny particles with a measured grain thickness. The load of grains should yield a perfectly uniform spread (so shaking them first is necessary). For some industrial applications it will be necessary to ‘sprinkle’ the grains into the first layer when it is still wet. These finishes derive their durability, amongst other things, from the fact that qualitative products are used as the base. Since a renovation immediately also means complete sanding, the aim is obviously to give these finishes the longest possible lifespan.

Chimiver

ECOSTAR 2K SPORT is a two-component water-based polyurethane lacquer for sportive wooden floors. ECOSTAR 2K SPORT has same technical characteristics of our standard ECOSTAR 2K; it has been formulated in order to meet the highest anti slip standard requirements for sport wooden floors. ECOSTAR 2K SPORT is in conformity with European standards for sportive wooden floors meeting EN14904 standard's requirements, DIN 18032-2 for slip resistance and it's classified as EN 13501-1. Hardness, distension, chemical and mechanical resistances put ECOSTAR 2K SPORT on top of range's quality. It is recommended and certified by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA Approved Equipment).

Osmo For interior wooden flooring and stairs that require increased slip resistance, Osmo offers Polyx®-Oil Anti-Slip. It is a clear coating, which achieves a more harmonious appearance through the use of plant ingredients. Slip resistance up to Class R11 can be achieved (Polyx®-Oil Anti-Slip EXTRA). For outdoor use, Osmo offers Anti-Slip Decking Oil, a satin top coat for timber decking and stairs already treated with a pigmented oil. It contains a special high-density organic non-slip additive, which is evenly distributed in the coating and has a slip-resistant effect after drying. Both coatings are based on natural oils and repel water. The microporous coat will not crack, peel or flake.

Pallmann In Germany the anti-slip properties of a floor surface is legislated by the “DGUV-Rule 108-003” of the “Deutsche Gesetzliche Unfallversicherung” (German statutory accident insurance) which regiments floors in work rooms and work areas with danger of slipping. Legislation is the same indoor as outdoor and is valid also for stairs. Floors in work rooms and work areas with danger of slipping are always reglemented by the above mentioned rule. In general slip resistance R 9 is mandatory. Pallmann offers a structure powder that can be used in combination with the 2-component lacquer Pall-X 98 Gold to achieve slip resistance R 10 according DGUV-Rule 108-003. The durability of a surface with added anti-slip structure powder Pall-X Grip de-pends on the frequency of floor cleaning, the frequentation of the floor and the used care/cleaning product(s). As the structure powder is added directly to the lacquer, application is the same as for lacquer renovation (with all sanding steps etc.).