Safety Flooring Standards | Charles Wilson Carpets & Flooring

Is Your Safety Flooring Safe?Published 11/08/2016

Safety flooring is needed for a reason - to be safe! If a product is described as ‘safe’, is it fair to assume that it provides sustainable slip resistance in wet conditions?

John Mellor, Market Manager for Polyflor – the quality safety flooring supplied by Charles Wilson Carpets and Flooring – explains: “It is well known in the trade that specific flooring manufacturers are renowned for their integrity and transparency in terms of sustainable slip resistance claims for safety flooring.”

He adds: “However, it is unfortunate to say that there has been an influx of products entering the market over recent months that do not conform to the required sustainable safety floor performance credentials yet they are marketed as fully fledged safety floors.”

There are three key elements to look for when choosing your safety flooring:

EN 13845 Abrasion 50,000 cycles test – this is part of the European Safety Flooring standard. Grit is continuously applied to the flooring to show durability and depth of aggregate in the product.
36+ Pendulum Wet Test – according to the guaranteed life of the flooring
Manufacturer Statement – assuring of slip resistance throughout the guaranteed life of the product and adhering to Health & safety Executive guidelines.

There are four tests which make the safety flooring look safe BUT do not guarantee sustainable slip resistance:

DIN 51130 R10
DIN 51097 Class B
EN13893 DS
EN649

"It’s easy to be mislead by some of the manufacturers’ claims,” says Helen Wilson of Charles Wilson carpets and Flooring. “It is fair to expect safety flooring to be safe. The issue is the long term performance of the flooring’s slip resistance.”

Help is a hand! The friendly team at Charles Wilson Carpets is happy to talk about your safety flooring requirements and the dependable choices available. Please contact us – we’re happy to answer your queries.