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Choices for Mitigation

Test Method Approved for Floor Safety Audits

Committee approval has been granted for a National Floor Safety Institute-proposed standard that will offer guidelines for the measurement of wet static coefficient of friction of hard floor surfaces.

“B101.1 Test Method for Measuring Wet SCOF of Common Hard-Surface Floor Materials” was approved in May by a committee of 27 safety professionals working to stem the more than $62 billion-a-year cost of slip-and-fall accidents.

Not a cleaning or performance standard, B101.1 was developed to provide a measurement procedure setting forth traction ranges that facilitate remediation of walkway surfaces when warranted.

Developed according to ANSI procedures for development of an American national standard, committee chairman Tom Bresnahan, CSP, of BC Associates, Burr Ridge, IL, said the scope of the standard is to develop safety standards intended to provide preventative measures in all manner of safety in regards to slip, trips and falls.

He said the committee, which met at VarioSystems Headquarters in Southlake, TX, seeks consensus, which is general agreement, though it does not have to be unanimous.

Russell J. Kendzior, committee secretary and acting executive director of the National Floor Safety Institute (NFSI), said the standard offers “test methods for floor safety auditors and a guide to provide choices when mitigation is needed.”

After the committee hashed out some issues with regard to informative vs. normative content, it was able to reach consensus on B101.1, and made suggested minor changes to the proposed “B101.0 Walkway Surface Auditing Guideline for the Measurements of Walkway Slip Resistance.”

Subcommittees will redraft and make proposed editorial changes, and resubmit a ballot letter for B101.1 final approval, and committee approval of B101.0, probably at the ISSA trade show and conference to be held in Orlando in October.

The committee, made up of producers, end users and general interest industry members, was introduced by Kendzior to Alyssa Bologna, a teenage slip-and-fall accident victim, and her mother Suzie Bologna.

An outstanding swimmer and lifeguard at a community pool in South Lake, TX, Alyssa suffered a dislocated kneecap, broken femur, back and hip injuries and other serious ailments from a slip-and-fall on the wet deck of the pool where she worked. Confined to bed for a month, Alyssa is still recovering from the incident, which occurred in Oct. 2005, and is dealing with continued physical and emotional issues.

Her mother told the committee that Alyssa should serve as a “reminder of what didn’t have to happen. It should resonate with you louder than anything. It was bad, and it didn’t have to happen. People just don’t get it.”

Kendzior reminded the committee that such an accident could happen to anyone. “It could be your daughter; it could be you.” Then he turned to Alyssa, and told her, “Your life isn’t over. This shouldn’t have happened, and these people are going to do something about it.”

The committee also agreed to form four additional subcommittees to consider the following:

• B101.2 “Test Method for Determining the Impact on Wet Static Coefficient of Friction of Various Chemical or Physical Walkway Surface Treatments;”

• B101.3 “Test Method for Measuring the Dynamic Coefficient of Friction on Walkway Surfaces;”

• B101.4 “Slip Resistance Specification of Wet Sufaces as Contacted Under Barefoot Conditions” (ie: bathtubs, showers, spas, swimming pool decks, boat decks, etc.);

• B101.5 Uniform Labeling Method for Identifying the Slip Resistance (traction) of Floor Coverings and Coatings; and Uniform Labeling Method for Identifying the Slip Resistance of Floor Cleaning Agents and Treatments.” FSM