Posted By Adrian Clifton Good morning to you all. We are trying to source a slip test provider for our Leisure Centres. We have received a quote frp £1,000 for a days testing, which seems somewhat expensive to me. Is this quote around the norm? Does anyone know of cheaper providers? Does anyone know where to buy test kit and training? As a public funded organisation finances are an issue. Comments, views and information would be most welcome. Adrian

Posted By Stephen D. Clarke I asked the HSE slips road-show speaker and he directed me to the local EHO. She came along, free of charge, with the electronic gizmo and measured the micro-roughness of a floor that was presenting problems. Following the demo we are considering purchase at approx £600 if memory serves.

Posted By Alan Hoskins Hi Adrian, A couple of points: The roughness tester with HSE SATS software give a good indication of slip resistance but does not tell the whole story. You should also use the pendulum tester to get a complete picture. £1,000 for a day's testing isn't too bad, because there'll be additional days to work on the data and produce the report which also have to be factored in. I'm not in consultancy, but I think the consultants out there would agree with my last point (anyone?). Alan

Posted By Alan Hoskins EN Apparently (I'm not an expert thankfully) it's to do with surface profiles. Different profiles (imagine sine wave and triangle wave) can give the same result with the surface roughness tester (Rz) but react differently in terms of hydrodynamic lift characteristics (squeeze effect) when someone slips on a wet surface. It is recommended that the roughness test is combined with some other tests such as the pendulum to get a clearer picture of the potential slipperiness of the surface. Unfortunately, the pendulum (as opposed to the roughness tester) is quite difficult to use correctly and can't be used in some instances (stairs for example), and of course there are the manual handling issues... Is that why HSE/EHOs have settled on using the former I wonder? Alan

Posted By John Holland1 the following is a response from one of my work Colleagues In response to the discussion on slip testing: The surface roughness measurement and application of the HSE SAT (Slip Assessment Tool) can give a reasonable first guide to the likely performance of a floor, with the following provisos: In our experience the nature of the flooring material has a significant influence. Materials with similar measured roughness may have a different texture, and this also influences the slip characteristics. The roughness is only indicative of performance in wet conditions (although measured on a dry surface), as roughness relates to the disruption of the surface film of water that promotes slip in damp or wet. The roughness measurement and SAT assessment do not carry any legislative force. Current BS 7976 and industry standard literature (UK Slip Resistance Group) require slip testing by the pendulum method (UKSRG includes surface roughness as an additional measure). Pendulum testing is therefore the norm for both material specification and for the investigation of slip accidents. Standard pendulum methods are applicable to both dry and water wet surfaces, and it is reasonable to use the pendulum on floors contaminated with other liquids and with dry contaminants (provided that these do not cause damage to the rubber slider of the pendulum). As has been pointed out, stairs can be a difficulty simply because of the small amount of space both to set up the pendulum and to allow a free swing of the arm, however the risk of slip on stairs is not solely related to slip resistance but also to stair geometry. Further guidance is available in the recent CIRIA publication ‘Safer surfaces to walk on’, which details both current testing and acceptance plus guidance on maintenance etc especially for floors that may offer poor performance in certain conditions. The quoted fee of £1000 for a one day visit seems rather high, but would depend also on travelling costs etc (we’d probably charge about £550-600 for a site in London, including both the visit and the certification). One day on site should be sufficient to perform testing on a dozen or so areas, including both pendulum testing (both wet and dry) and surface roughness assessment. Hope this is useful. Ian B Dr Ian Blanchard