How to Make Resilient/Nonresilient Floors Safe

Slip and fall accidents while on the job can be a nightmare for everyone. And they can be injurious for the employer or business owner as well if a client or employee slips due to a “hazardous condition” from a floor that’s not been properly maintained. If your floor is not swept, debris can become a slip and fall hazard. Spilled liquids on the floor need to be mopped up and “Wet Floor” signs need to be set up until the floor dries. The property owner will be responsible if the accident was found to have happened because of a hazardous condition and may be financially responsible for the accident.

It’s self-evident that no employer or business owner wants customers or employees slipping on their floors. Yet everyone wants their floors to look shiny and clean. The solution, according to John Pletz, CEO of ServiceMaster Clean by Pletz based in Crystal Lake, Illinois, is to prevent slipping with proper maintenance. Sweeping, mopping and a professional floor finish should be applied if it is a vinyl tile floor. Any professional floor finish today is required to meet certain standards of slip-resistance. All ServiceMaster Clean floor finishes exceed industry slip resistant standards.

Prevention Best Cure

Most people want their floors to be protected, to shine and be slip-resistant as well. That means that before business owners even go about cleaning a floor, they should concentrate on choosing a floor finish that meets the proper standards. To accomplish that would require employing the services of a knowledgeable floor stripping and refinishing company.

This can be especially important if your business is located in an area where there is a lot of snow. Properly maintained floors are a must.

When it snows, people will put down salt to melt the snow and ice. That salt gets tracked into your facility and gets deposited on the floor. Salt absorbs moisture from the air. Therefore when it gets inside your building it doesn’t always dry. Instead, it can have a slick sheen to it which you cannot necessarily see, but which can make you slip.

Here’s an industry tip and easy solution to help avoid the winter salt slip hazard: Have your cleaning company add a small amount of a mildly acidic substance such as vinegar or citric acid to their mopping water. This will neutralize the alkalinity and clean the floor at the same time. That will prevent slips.

The correct type of floor finish will also be designed to prevent floors from getting that type of ground-in dirt, salt included, embedded in the floor. For example, VCT, or vinyl composition tile, is by nature porous and requires scrubbing and refinishing on a regular basis. A good slip-resistant floor finish is required, so make sure your janitorial company is using professional-grade finish with high solid content which increases your shine. That means it will look clean and shiny but it will prevent slippage.

Keeping it Up to Standard

Any professional floor finish today is required to meet certain standards of slip-resistance. All ServiceMaster Cleans’ floor finishes exceed that minimum. “ServiceMaster Premium 25” has 25% solids. This means that when the floor finish is applied and dries, 25% of what was applied remains. These remaining solids provide the shine. Many commercial floor finishes only have 18% to 19% solids. That means that three coats of “ServiceMaster Premium 25” would be equivalent to four coats of another brand. You get more shine for your money. Most of the cost of stripping and refinishing floors is labor. So laying 3 coats of finish that shines like 4 means more bang for your buck.