Slip Resistance Tests for Flooring

Flooring is essential to our daily lives and activities. Unexpected injuries on slippery floors in public areas have aroused public concerns on the use of flooring that meet with safety standard. According to the Workplace Health, Safety and Welfare Regulations in 1992, it is mandated that flooring shall not be slippery and shall not be a hazard to public safety. On account of the importance of safe flooring, skid resistance test is a recommended measure in evaluating the slipperiness of flooring. In fact, testing of hydrophilic flooring is not only necessary in places like kitchens, toilets or bathrooms. Other flooring made from stones, concrete, metal, PVC and ceramic etc., in places such as hotels, restaurants, offices, schools, shopping malls, pavements and passages also require proper testing. Pendulum test and Ramp test are the two common test standards that assess the slipperiness of flooring. It is expressed in terms of floor resistance level in both dry and contaminated conditions. Based on the Pendulum test values (PTV) or R-value that are obtained from many of the related test standards, we could see whether the flooring is safe or not.