Ramps or inclined surfaces – Safety Direct America

How SparkleTuff Solved Slippery Tile Ramps at a Texas Mall — Anti-Slip Floor Coating Still Working 10 Years Later

SparkleTuff anti-slip floor coating can permanently solve slippery tile floors and ramps by adding a clear, gritty traction layer to the surface. In this Texas mall case study, SparkleTuff was applied to slippery tile ramps where maintenance lift machines could not climb. Ten years later, the coating is still providing reliable traction. Watch the Video…

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ADA Slip Resistance Requirements

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ANSI A326.3 Acutest Does Not Predict Likelihood of Slip

A widely used floor friction test, American National Standards Institute A326.3, states in its introduction that “it can provide a useful comparison of surfaces, but it does not predict the likelihood a person will or will not slip on a hard surface flooring material.” The test assesses wet dynamic coefficient of friction (DCOF) using the…

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DCOF Rating for Floors

The latest American slip test for floors is the DCOF rating test method specified in ANSI A326.3. Although this test is a much better test than the now-withdrawn ASTM C1028 that was previously included in the International Building Code, the new test method comes with a great deal of “disclaimers”, including the warning that a…

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Why We Offer a “Recommended Tile Slip Test Package”

When our clients ask for an ANSI/NFSI A137.1 test we often recommend that they order a pendulum test as well. The pair of floor slip resistance tests is popular, and we offer a discounted price of $477.00 (for lab testing) when they are ordered together. The reason has to do with the A137.1 standard —…

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Dal-Tile Recommends Situation-Specific Minimum DCOF AcuTest Values

We have pointed out before that the ANSI A137.1 “DCOF AcuTest” and ANSI A326.3 minimum recommended wet dynamic coefficient of friction (DCOF rating) for level wet indoor areas of 0.42 is “one size fits all” and does not consider the use of the flooring — upstairs elevator lobby, commercial kitchen, pool deck, etc. The traction…

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America Gets Another Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Slip Resistance Guideline

Wet, bare feet are soft and essentially treadless, and on a slippery hard floor can be treacherous — leading to falls that sometimes cause permanent brain damage or worse. It’s crucial to provide slip-resistant surfaces at swimming pools where people (some of them sober) will be walking, playing or running (even against the rules) with…

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Pendulum: The Most Widely Used Slip Resistance Test Worldwide

The pendulum skid tester, known in the U.S. as the “British pendulum” although it was invented at the U.S. National Bureau of Standards, is the most widely used floor slip resistance tester worldwide for measuring the slip resistance of pedestrian surfaces (DCOF rating). It is a national floor slip test standard in at least 50…

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ANSI Issuing Another Standard Slip Test Method for Flooring Materials – and It Also Shouldn’t be Used as a Safety Assessment

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is issuing a new test method, with minimum dynamic coefficient of friction (DCOF rating), for slip resistance of hard flooring materials, and it should never be used to assess the slip resistance safety of a floor. No minimum DCOF is provided for exterior applications. The BOT-3000E digital tribometer is…

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Fixing Your Slippery Epoxy/Polyurea/Polyaspartic Floor

In the video below, we discuss fixing slippery epoxy floors, slippery polyaspartic floors, and slippery polyurea floors quickly and easily with SparkleTuff Anti-Slip Floor Treatment, which requires to special preparation to the epoxy floor whatsoever. We are continually amazed at how often contractors will install an epoxy (or polyurea or polyaspartic) floor coating (especially to…

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