There are multiple different types of industrial flooring, which most commonly include: concrete, epoxi flooring, polyurethane flooring, polyvinyl chloride, epoxy coatings, polyurethane, rubber flooring and seamless vinyl. Each is suitable for different jobs, machinery and workspaces and each has different pros and cons.
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Often factories and warehouses have multiple different sections using various pieces of equipment, where staff perform a range of tasks. However, the whole space may be covered with only one or two types of flooring. The general flooring laid across the mass of the factory or warehouse may not be suitable for specific areas and rooms. This is where a trackway solution and additional ground protection should be put in place to aid the job and most importantly, improve industrial warehouse safety.
It is important to know how to properly assess industrial flooring to prevent accidents. According to Health and Safety Executive (HSE) 'over 32% of accidents in the workplace are slips, trips and falls making this the largest percentage of non-fatal workplace injuries in the UK'.
Injuries, have a personal impact on employees but also result in downtime and increased operational costs.
The most common causes of slips and trips are wet or slippery surfaces where liquids have been spilt, the most dangerous being grease and oil. Other common contributors include: freshly mopped floors without warning signage, rain or snow brought indoors on footwear or waterproofs, poor drainage systems, ineffective matting and human error (leaving taps on and spilling drinks etc). The main trip causes are unsuitable, damaged or uneven flooring, improperly secured matting, exposed wiring and items or boxes left in walkways.
The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) regulations state that floors should be suitable, free from obstructions, and in good condition. If regulations are not adhered to then it can result in court cases, costly fines, and operational shutdown.
The most important way to analyse the safety of industrial flooring is to carry out a slip and trip prevention risk assessment in your factory or warehouse.
In the assessment, you should identify problematic areas by looking at your site as a whole and including the risks at entrances, exits, canteens and toilet areas then assess the individual working areas and walking areas. Here you should view what flooring type is laid in each section, how effective it is and if it is the most suitable industrial surface type for this space and the operations conducted here. A high-risk example would be a commercial loop carpet in a space nearby any open flames or sparks.
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You must check for any obvious slip and trip hazards. Following this, you will need to assess in more depth:
Consider who could be harmed and how. Will you have visitors on site and will they be at further risk?
Once your findings are recorded it is important that operations do not begin unless high and medium-risk areas have either new flooring, coatings, ground protection or safety measures put in place. You then need to regularly review the flooring for safety, especially if there are changes made. Accident prevention does not need to be complicated or very expensive, it just needs to be consistently monitored.
1. Have a maintenance plan, and stick to it ' Make it a part of your warehouse safety or factory employee training with regular refresher training to ensure the maintenance workforce and wider staff are working with cohesively with the same rules, regulations and procedures.
2. Consider whether the flooring you currently have is fit for purpose ' You can't put a price on safety. If you have flooring which is beyond repair or completely unsuitable, you will need to invest in a replacement. For floors which are not ideal but can have temporary ground protection mats placed on them to meet safety standards, you should use this as a temporary measure and make it a future business goal to replace the flooring.
Industrial flooring quality and suitability are paramount to warehouse health and safety. Employers and workers are often more focused on the danger that equipment, machinery or chemicals may cause. This means they overlook the floor beneath them and the warehouse safety issues it could cause. Although slips and trips seem minor, in a workplace, combined with machinery, chemicals and equipment they can become fatal.
Our trackway is diverse. Although our trackway products are mainly associated with external applications and supporting outdoor grounds and sectors, our HDPE plastic floor mats are suitable for indoor use too. Not only are they suitable, but in many situations, paramount to safety.
Designed with features that provide traction, our HDPE anti-slip plastic floor mats reduce the risk of accidents. This becomes particularly crucial in indoor settings where factors like spills and moisture can create hazards.
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