Slippery Floors in the Home - Protect your family and friends from slip & fall injuries

Slippery floors are one of the most common causes of injury in the home. Slip and fall injuries can have serious, often devastating, effects on the injured family member or friend. The elderly and children are at the greatest risk of slip fall injury.

Any floor that becomes wet, whether it is from spillage or carried in on pedestrian’s feet, become a potential slip/fall hazard. It is especially dangerous when the wet floor surface is not obvious. Pedestrians, if they see a wet floor surface, will usually attempt to adjust their gait to avoid slipping and falling. The worst slip and fall accidents usually occur when a person is unaware that the surface is wet and slippery and is unprepared for the change in surface friction.

Slips, trips and falls are often seen as being funny accidents but often they lead to major injuries, hospitalisation, time off work, disabilities and in worst cases fatalities. When a potential slip/fall hazard is spotted, it is essential to take necessary steps to eliminate these hazards before an accident happens.

Non-slip floor treatments are available for just about any floor surface. These treatments raise the coefficient of friction of the floor surface to make pedestrian surfaces safer. Slip resistance measurements can be taken by qualified floor safety operators to ensure that floor surface Australian standards. Once floors have been treated with non-slip floor treatment, they must be cleaned properly to retain their slip resistance. It is important that floors are washed thoroughly with very hot water and a small amount of good quality detergent and that the water is changed often to ensure that it stays hot and clean.