2016 has seen the biggest shake-up in decades to the way companies are penalised by the courts for health and safety breaches with the potential for fines of £10 million and more.
Bonasystems top-tips for a successful slip management strategy are:
- Ensure floors are tested using the correct industry standard for measurement, namely the Pendulum Test. It is the only method recognised by UK courts. If you’ve not had a Pendulum Test done recently, we’d recommend that you do.
- Test floors in both wet and dry conditions. Wet conditions and foot soiling are inevitable in high traffic areas, especially around pools, spas and saunas.
- Be aware of how your floors behave under certain conditions, for example, a bathroom floor will have different contaminants (usually soaps and scum) to a leisure centre entrance way.
- Remember that a slip test only captures a moment in time. You can specify a tile with excellent slip-resistance, but that does not mean that it will retain that slip-resistance if it isn’t maintained correctly. You should employ Pendulum Tests periodically to assess what effect cleaning and maintenance is having on your floor surfaces. Your goal should be to find the right regime to maintain your floors so that even when they are wet you have full confidence that they are not dangerous. This approach in a leading health club brand we work with has seen slips fall from 30 per cent to 8 per cent of all claims within 12 months, saving the client £100,000s on claim costs alone, plus safeguarding against the new sentencing guidelines.
- Instil a robust timetable of measurement and inspection. Ensure this is clearly documented and do not ignore any potential risks raised. All risks raised should be investigated promptly and appropriate action taken.
- As specialists in the field of floor care within the leisure sector, Bonasystems is perfectly placed to offer expert advice, independent assessment, and professional products and services to help businesses stay on the right side of the law.
Bonasystems recently carried out research amongst 379 leisure centres in the UK and found that 80 per cent of their wet leisure areas did not meet HSE slip-resistance standards. Further investigation showed that it was not the floor specification that was at fault, it was cleaning and maintenance regimes which could have made the difference between high and low risk.
Book a free review of your slip management strategy
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