Creating Safe Epoxy Floors with Slip Resistant Coating

slip resistant epoxy coating

Having a safe environment, whether at home or work, is important not just for yourself but for the people that also access the area. Slips, trips and falls can be a hazard in any setting – commercial, industrial or residential - and while many building regulations are in place to reduce risk (particularly in workplaces), slip and fall risks can be costly in terms of liability. With epoxy resin flooring, adding a slip resistant coating is a great way to reduce risk and provide a safer walking area for others, while still providing durability, practicality, and good looks.

Slip resistant coatings are mandated in workplaces

slip resistant epoxy coating

Slips, trips and falls are an identified hazard within Occupational Health & Safety (OHS) legislation, and employers are mandated to identify, control and either minimise, mitigate or eliminate potential areas of risk. The Building Code of Australia (BCA) sets out requirements to manage safety in design, and provide safe movement by ensuring that floors have slip resistant coating to minimise risk, especially in wet areas, walkways, stairs, emergency exits and common egress points.

High traffic areas such as these in industrial and commercial sites (including offices and retail) can pose real risk to employees and customers, with recognised health and safety issues around working areas which includes slip prone floors. Choosing the right flooring will help contribute towards meeting your requirements around duty of care, and epoxy resin flooring with slip resistant coating is a great way to do this.

Epoxy slip resistant coatings for safer floors

slip resistant coating

The particle size of slip resistance needs to be appropriate for the area. In a commercial kitchen or butcher, for example, the slip resistance is much larger than, say, a mechanical workshop. This said, the cleaning is commensurate with the slip resistance. Lower slip resistance can be easier to clean . . . of course. But what price is put on safety? The various slip resistances come in various sizes.

Nobody wishes to have an inappropriate floor that’s either too slippery or so heavily seeded with slip resistance that cleaning becomes, not only painful but could have been just as fit for purpose with a lighter level of slip resistance. The main areas of traffic need to be identified, and these areas will generally be hit heavier, and around walls and non-traffic areas - not so much.

The slip resistance choice itself is also crucial. Some areas may require sand or glass, others will need something stronger like aluminium oxide. The choice of product also needs to be fit for purpose. With heavy vehicular traffic, for example, an aluminium oxide won’t break down as fast as sand, so would be more appropriate. There are cost differences with the choices as well.

Incorporating a slip resistant coating into your epoxy resin floor will help control, minimise and mitigate potential slip, trip and fall hazards in your commercial or industrial site, and even in your home where you have wet areas, steps or other areas that may pose risk.

Epoxy resin flooring is also an effective solution not just because of the ability to include slip resistant coating,s but also because of the seamless nature of the coating – with no visible joints, the trip hazard is also removed.

Epoxy resin flooring is a cost-effective way to help meet your safe movement requirements under OHS legislation, and the BCA for commercial and industrial sites.  It also offers a heavy duty, robust flooring solution that looks great and will give you peace of mind no matter what the setting.

We have different levels of slip resistant coating options available and suitable for external and internal use, and can provide help on determining what will work best for each area.

Find out more about epoxy flooring and slip resistance

We have an epoxy resin flooring solution for every flooring need, including those that need the added safety of a slip resistant coating to minimise slip, trip and fall hazards. For friendly and knowledgeable advice from the epoxy experts, contact us today.

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About Euan Bennett

A self-confessed epoxy flooring nerd and dog lover, my great team and I just love transforming an ordinary floor into a thing of beauty with a carefully applied epoxy finish.