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Polysafe Safety Flooring
Slips, trips and falls are the most common cause of injury in the workplace. In many cases the risk of slip can be considerably reduced by simply installing an appropriate safety floor.
Our heavy-duty Polysafe safety flooring provides a floor surface that is slip resistant, durable and easy to clean. Our Polysafe ranges are incredibly hardwearing and achieve a sustainable slip resistance performance of at least 36+, assured for the guaranteed life of the product.
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Why Specify Polysafe
Polysafe heavy-duty safety flooring provides a floor surface that is slip resistant, durable and easy to clean. The Polysafe ranges are incredibly hardwearing and achieve a sustainable slip resistance performance of at least 36+, assured for the guaranteed life of the product.
Compliant with EN 13845 and engineered to provide slip resistant qualities which are sustainable.
All Polysafe ranges are suitable for areas where there are risks of spillages and other contaminants. Some areas require floors to obtain greater slip resistance properties in certain environments: - such as wet rooms and commercial kitchens.
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Sustainable Slip Resistance
Many flooring products which claim to offer safety properties do so based on performance characteristics that are temporary. With Polysafe’s unique structure you can be confident that the safety performance is truly sustainable throughout the lifetime of the product.
All Polysafe ranges offer their specified slip resistance for the guaranteed lifetime of the product. Put simply, they will offer the same level of slip resistance as the day they were installed, many years after installation in the heaviest use commercial environments. This is what is referred to as sustainable slip resistance and it is the single most important performance attribute to consider when specifying a safety flooring.
The Polysafe performance characteristics were developed as a result of a deep understanding of the science behind slip resistance performance and in accordance with guidelines from independent experts such as the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). It is imperative that a product that produces a safety benefit, consistently performs throughout its life. It is relatively simple to add an abrasive coating to the surface of a flooring product to create slip resistance, however as the coating wears this performance will rapidly reduce. In order to identify true safety flooring products that offer sustainable performance, an understanding of test methodology is essential. Most importantly the test method should be able to be carried out easily in-situ once the product has been installed.
Sustainable test method – Pendulum
The Pendulum Slip Test is the HSE’s preferred test method because it is accurate, portable and can easily be used in-situ.
This significance of this is that the slip resistance of a floor can be easily assessed over its whole lifetime and not only at the point of manufacturing. The test simulates a foot slipping on a wet floor, achieved by swinging a slider to simulate a heel’s interaction with a floor surface.
Two different sliders can be used: Slider 96 to represent the heel of a shoe and Slider 55 to represent a bare foot (required when testing slip resistance in continually wet areas such as walk in showers). The degree to which the pendulum swings very accurately measure the slip resistance of the flooring material and a reading of 36+ indicates a low potential for slip, with a slip risk level of 1 in a million.
How does safety flooring work?
Safety flooring is specifically designed to reduce the risk of slips and falls, even in wet or contaminated environments, it works by combining advanced surface technology with embedded aggregates to provide reliable grip underfoot.
On smooth floors, liquids create a thin squeeze film between shoes and surface making it slippery. Safety flooring solves this by embedding slip -resistant aggregates through the material. These hard particles break through the contaminant layer and provide direct friction with footwear, ensuring grip and reducing the risk of slips, even in wet or oily conditions.
FAQs
- What is safety vinyl flooring?
Safety vinyl flooring is a type of slip resistant flooring designed to help prevent slips and falls in environments where safety is a concern. Enhanced slip resistance is achieved by increasing the friction between the foot and the floor, to give underfoot protection in areas where spillages can occur. This friction increase is obtained through the combination of safety aggregates and particles that combine with the floor’s surface emboss to provide a rougher, harder friction surface when walked upon.
- How does safety vinyl flooring differ from standard vinyl flooring?
The key difference is sustainable slip resistance. Safety vinyl flooring is specifically engineered with aggregates throughout the performance layer, to provide enhanced grip throughout the guaranteed life of the product, even in wet or high-risk areas. Only safety vinyl flooring meets industry standards for sustainable slip resistance such as PTV36+ or higher ratings.
- What is ‘sustainable slip resistance’?
Sustainable slip resistance means that a product’s slip performance is sustained throughout the guaranteed life of the product. It’s essential to establish this when selecting a safety floor. The best way to ensure sustainable performance is to look for the relevant pendulum test result and conformance to EN 13845 – which ensures that a safety product has performance particles and that they remain active as the product wears.
- What makes safety flooring slip resistant?
Safety vinyl flooring is made slip resistant through the use of embedded safety particles, such as quartz, silicon carbide or aluminium oxide. These elements are built into the performance layer of the flooring to provide long lasting, sustainable grip even in wet, greasy, or high traffic conditions.
- Which test methods are best to measure the slip resistance of safety flooring?
The Pendulum test method is preferred by the HSE to assess the dynamic coefficient of friction of a floorcovering and is achieved by swinging a dummy heel over the floor surface to simulate a foot slipping on a wet floor. The greatest strength of this test is that the machine is highly portable, and can easily be used in situ, so the slip resistance of the floor can be assessed over its whole life. HSE guidelines call for a floor to give a pendulum test value of 36 and above in the wet to be classified as low slip potential, this equates to a slip risk level of one in a million.
- What is the Ramp test?
The Ramp test (DIN 51130 & DIN 51097). It is generally known and accepted in the market by flooring professionals that if true slip-resistant safety flooring is required, then solely basing a specification on R values from a Ramp test can be misleading for specifiers and end users. This test involves a person with work boots walking over a flooring sample on an inclined ramp in the presence of an oil contaminant. The resulting level of degrees the ramp can be inclined before the operator slips is categorised into appropriate ‘R’ Values – running from R9 up to R13.
- How easy is it to clean and maintain a safety floor?
Safety vinyl flooring is designed for easy cleaning and low maintenance, making it ideal for busy commercial and industrial environments. To maintain slip resistance, avoid polishes, waxes, or sealants, as these can create a slippery film. Instead, regular cleaning with a neutral pH cleaner and a microfiber mop or mechanical scrubber will keep the surface in good condition.
- Should I polish my Safety flooring?
No, a safety flooring should not be polished. Polishing or applying wax can reduce the slip resistant properties of the surface, defeating the purpose of safety flooring. Safety flooring is designed with built in slip resistance that does not require polishing to maintain its effectiveness or appearance.
