Assessing the Slipperiness of Different Types of Floor - Term Paper Example

One in 3 major slips are accounted for by slips, trips, and falls on the level ground (STFL). It is also responsible for 1 out of 5 3-day injuries in Britain. Overall, this suggests a total of 35,000 injuries yearly or one grave accident in 3-minute intervals. Based on the figures provided by the HSE, the majority of these STFL accidents are composed of slips. The Health and Safety Laboratory (HSL) has undertaken research for HSE and has concluded that a variety of factors account for slip accidents.

As an outcome, a slip potential model has been drafted, demonstrating the relative importance of the following factors: 1) floor; 2) contamination; 3) footwear; 4) pedestrian factors; and 5) environment (Workplace Health, Safety, and Welare Regulations, 1992).The HSE Perspective on the Evaluation of Slipperiness       The law mandates that floors must not be slippery, to decrease a person’s exposure to potential danger brought about by slips and trips (The Workplace Health, Safety, and Welfare Regulations, 1992).

The traits of floor surface materials necessary to accord satisfactory slip resistance have conventionally been considered hard to evaluate. Despite this, research conducted by the HSE and HSL, in collaboration with the UK Slip Resistance Group (UKSRG) and the British Standards Institution has effectively demonstrated that this need not be an obstacle or hindrance to carrying out empirical studies on slips and trips. Flooring materials’ slipperiness can be precisely measured by utilizing readily available and portable scientific equipment.

HSE and HSL have crafted a dependable and repeatable methodology for carrying out this task with the use of these instruments. This is done through an evaluation of floor slipperiness in both public and private work areas. Such methodology has been utilized as a foundation for important HSE and local authority enforcement, beginning from the issuance of advice to ultimate prosecution.