Posted By Peter Younger I am trying to purchase a pendular floor tester, but am having real difficulties finding a supplier, can anybody point me in the right direction, and does anybody have any experience in using them?

Posted By stephen j mills The Health and Safety Laboratories carry out a large number of friction tests with a pendulum tester, and are still currently undertaking research into slips and trips with this equipment. The best person to speak to there is probably Steve Thorpe e-mail steve.thorpe@hsl.gov.uk

Posted By John Ridd This isn't meant to be patronising, but please be clear of the reasons for your search - if you want to be able to compare different surfaces for some academic purpose then fine, you should end up with data you can use (though many would even argue about that). However, if your aim is to assess risk, then I believe the current view is that the results from such testing equipment (not just the pendulum) are not especially helpful. I would love to read (I would really be interested in) the HSE's response if you should request information via the link suggested above.

Posted By Stuart Nagle I think the equipment you refer to is actually part of a skid resistance test, as someone mentioned above, and is intended for use on roads where a specific skid resistance is required (i.e. junction approaches etc). The equipment and the test is described in relevant British Standards, and anyone with access to either a college of technology where they have BS's or electronic access to the BSI database should be able to locate the relevant standards and info. Basically, after setting up the apparatus (a swinging arm with weight (into which a pience of rubber is inserted), the surface is wetted and the arm allowed to swing down. a series of these 'tests' are taken at each location and averaged up. the result are then compared to a chart to provide the skid resistance reading. Hope this all helps... Stuart Nagle