New ANSI Floor Safety Standard

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) B101 committee on Slip, Trip and Fall Prevention has released the first official US floor safety standard in an attempt to prevent injuries caused by slips and falls. According to Russell Kendzior, secretary of the committee and founder of the National Floor Safety Institute (NFSI), "the goal of the standard is to reduce the nation's growing number of slip-and-fall related injuries by increasing the traction of walkways." The new standard provides a method to measure how slippery a surface is when wet, categorizing floors as High Traction, Moderate Traction, and Low Traction.

The Size of the Problem

According to OSHA, falls are the most common cause of workplace injuries. The US Consumer Products Safety Commission says that falls result in over 2 million emergency room visits per year in the US. Falls are a leading cause of death in people over 60. The total cost of fall injuries in the US, including medical costs, litigation, worker's comp claims, and other indirect costs, is estimated to be between $60 billion and $80 billion per year. Clearly, slips trips and falls are a huge problem.

The NFSI estimates that 55% of slip trip and fall injuries are caused by slippery walking surfaces. They have dedicated over a decade of research to developing the new standard, which "specifies the procedures and devices used for both laboratory and field testing to measure the wet static coefficient of friction (SCOF) of common hard-surface floor materials."

A Slippery Slope Argument

You might not think something as pedestrian as floor safety would create controversy, but in 2004 NFSI came under heavy criticism from CSPA, a group of floor product manufacturers, over the research that eventually led to the new standard. CSPA claimed that all wet surfaces should be considered hazardous, and that their existing method for measuring dry surfaces was adequate. NFSI responded that 80% of slip and fall accidents occur on wet floors, so it makes more sense to measure surfaces when wet. If ways can be found to make wet surfaces less slippery, the number of accidents could be reduced.

NFSI won the argument, and their wet-floor testing method has now been adopted by ANSI as the nation's first-ever standard for slippery surface measurement.

What You Should Do

NFSI recommends that walkways should be tested for compliance by a NFSI Certified Walkway Auditor. Surfaces determined to have Low and Moderate Traction should be improved through proper floor maintenance and by the use of less slippery walkway materials, coatings, and cleaning agents. NFSI maintains a list of certified auditors on their website.

Basic common-sense measures can greatly reduce the risk of slip trip and fall injuries. Make sure walkways are kept clear of obstacles, all spills are cleaned up promptly and as always, consult with your local KPA Engineer for guidance with this and any other critical safety or regulatory concern that you feel may affect your facility.

Maintaining compliant floor surfaces and developing safety awareness can help reduce the enormous cost and suffering caused by this common workplace hazard.