Floor Testing

Slip & Flooring Assessment Services

Smithers Rapra are world leaders in issues relating to the use of rubber & plastics in the floor covering & flooring industries. Our expertise covers interior & exterior coverings from kitchen vinyl to laminate flooring, from artificial turf to playground protective floors.

Smithers Rapra offer a whole range of services to the flooring industry including slip testing, material durability & material analysis.

Slipping accidents are common & vary from being simply embarrassing to extremely serious. In our litigious society, more & more slipping accidents are being dealt with through solicitors & the courts. For 25 years Smithers Rapra has taken a leading role in the field of developments in assessing flooring for its potential to cause slipping accidents. As a result a wealth of experience has built up that has been used by architects, builders, shops & local councils to provide independent advice on the state of a given floor.

Pedestrian Slipping

Smithers Rapra has been involved in the measurement of pedestrian slipping since the early 80’s & as an early leader developed the Slider 96 rubber (Formerly Four S) to compliment the TRRL rubber (now Slider 55) made under agreement for the Transport & Road Research Laboratory. The early work undertaken by the Greater London Council & the Building Research Establishment is now history in our understanding of pedestrian slipping & the measurements.

Laboratory testing

Smithers Rapra evaluate flooring materials to:-

  • BS 7976 Part 2, Pendulum testers – Method of operation
  • BS EN 13845 Resilient floor coverings – Polyvinyl chloride floor coverings with particle based enhanced slip resistance – Specification.
  • BS EN 13036 Part 4 Road & airfield surface characteristics – Test methods – Method of measurement of slip/skid resistance of a surface – Pendulum test.
  • ASTM E303 Standard method for measuring the surface frictional properties using the British pendulum tester.
  • DIN 51130 Testing of floor coverings – Determination of the anti-slip properties – Workrooms & fields of activities with slip danger, Walking method – Ramp test.
  • DIN 51 097 Testing of floor coverings – Determination of anti-slip properties - Wet-loaded barefoot areas, Walking method - Ramp test.

The ramp based test methods can also be used to identify the best shoe type for a specified hazardous area, i.e. tomato ketchup contamination on a vinyl floor in a kitchen.

On site measurements for the general assessment of slip resistance is done in accordance with BS 7976 Part 2 using the Pendulum fitted with a Slider 96 (generally for internal surfaces) or Slider 55 rubber (generally for rough external surfaces). These evaluations enable a floor to be categorised against the UK Slip Resistance Groups Guidelines & can be used as preventative maintenance enabling cleaning techniques to be reviewed & possibly changed.

If you manufacture, install or use Contract flooring manufactured from or treated with Polymers Smithers Rapra can satisfy your testing or development needs. For further information email info@rapra.net or call 01939 250383.

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