According to the CDC, nearly 70% of all playground injuries are caused by falls to the ground. This makes the choice and maintenance of surfacing materials one of the most important factors in preventing playground injuries. All playground surfacing material has a Critical Fall Height (CFH) that determines how much impact it can safely absorb. The Critical Fall Height is the safety threshold for playground surfacing and must always be equal to or greater than the surrounding playground equipment’s actual fall height to be considered safe. For example, (more…)
This article is based on my experience investigating and analyzing slip-and-fall incidents involving pedestrian walking surfaces. One type of slip and fall incident involves slipping on wet floor surfaces shortly after entering a building or stepping onto hard-surface flooring.
Common flooring materials involved include polished concrete, vinyl composite tile, porcelain tile, and wood flooring. These surfaces are generally safe when dry but present increased slip risk when contaminated. Matting is often used as a method to minimize the slip risk but is frequently ineffective because of improper usage.
Mechanism of Slip and Fall
Slip-and-fall incidents most often occur when a contaminant—typically water—is present between the shoe sole and the walking surface. Water acts as a lubricant, reducing the coefficient of friction and increasing the likelihood of a slip.
A frequently observed condition involves rainwater being tracked into buildings, even when mats are present, indicating that matting effectiveness depends on proper selection, placement, and maintenance. Often mats are not long enough to wipe or walk off the moisture on shoe soles to prevent tracking of the rainwater into the building.
A photo of the area just inside the doorway of a convenience store. The mat is not positioned to protect a walker from from the wet tile and the wet floor sign has not been placed in front of the wet floor area.
High-Risk Areas and Contributing Factors
High-traffic entrances such as retail stores, grocery stores, government buildings, and museums are particularly susceptible to contaminant tracking.
Common failures include:
Improper mat type selection – scraper mats vs fabric walk-off mats
Insufficient mat length or coverage
Improper placement
Failure to replace saturated mats
Lack of warning signage
Inadequate maintenance practices
This mat is not a fabric wiper mat but a rubber mat with holes whereby water can run under the mat onto the floor. The mat is also not positioned to protect walkers from the wet tile floor where wet track marks can be seen in this photo.
Applicable Industry Standards
ANSI/NFSI B101.6-2012 outlines requirements for matting selection, adequacy, and maintenance, emphasizing that matting must prevent contaminants from migrating beyond the mat. Relevant text from B101.6-2012:
4.1 Safety -Matting of effective and sufficient quality shall be installed to remove contaminants, moisture and grit from footwear.
E 4.1 Mats perform an important safety benefit in areas where there is a hazard from contaminants, grit and moisture. Wet floors and grit on floors, particularly hard floors, pose a significant threat to pedestrians of slipping and falling. Mats remove moisture and grit from floors to reduce slip hazards..
E 6.1 The determining factor as to the adequacy or sufficiency of matting is when it achieves the goal of removing grit/foreign materials, dust and moisture so that it does not contaminate the floor surface following the matting installation. The amount of foreign materials or contaminants removal will affect the decision on mat selection.
7.4 Wiper Mats – Wiper mats shall be removed and replaced when they become saturated resulting in moisture being tracked into the premises.
E 7.4 During periods of inclement weather, there needs to be additional mats available to replace the wiper mat when it no longer removes moisture from footwear.
8.5 Wet Conditions – When the surface of the mat becomes wet, the mat shall be removed and replaced with a dry mat. When the area under the mat becomes wet, the mat shall be removed and the area under the mat shall be dried prior to mat replacement.
ASTM F1637-21 requires use of mats to maintain dry walking surfaces and reduce hazard from tracked contaminants. Relevant text from ASTM F1637.21:
5.4.1 Mats, runners, or other means of ensuring that building entrances and interior walkways are kept dry shall be provided, as needed, during inclement weather. Replacement of mats or runners may be necessary when they become saturated.
5.4.2 Building entrances shall be provided with mats or runners, or other means to help remove foreign particles and other contaminants from the bottom of pedestrian footwear. Mats should be provided to minimize foreign particles, that may become dangerous to pedestrians particularly on hard smooth floors, from being tracked on floors.
5.4.3 Mats or runners should be provided at other wet or contaminated locations, particularly at known transitions from dry locations. Mats at building entrances also may be used to control the spread of precipitation onto floor surfaces, reducing the likelihood of floors becoming slippery.
Additional Reference
Cintas Corporation, “Floor Mats: A Key Component of Your Slip and Fall Prevention Strategy.” is an excellent guideline
Conclusion
Slip-and-fall incidents involving wet floors are often preventable through use of proper matting systems. Industry standards establish that matting must be sufficient, maintained, and adapted to conditions. Failure to do so increases the likelihood of hazardous conditions. The key issue is whether reasonable measures are taken to mitigate foreseeable hazardous conditions associated with matting.
Steven Hunt, CPCU, ARM, CXLT is a senior safety consultant at Warren. Steve, who specializes in premises liability incidents, construction falls and safety management programs, has achieved the designation of Associate Risk Management and Chartered Property and Liability Underwriter from Insurance Institute of America, Chicago, IL. and is a Certified Excel Tribometerist. Steve has investigated more than 1,000 accidents in his more than 45 -year career, including 49 cases involving fatalities. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Administrative Management with a Minor in Occupational Safety and Health from Clemson University.
Slip and falls occur when there is an unexpected loss of traction between a person’s foot and the walking surface, causing them to lose balance and fall. This type of injury is common and can occur in any setting where people walk, including homes, workplaces, and public areas. Slips can result in serious injuries, particularly for older adults.
The human gait cycle consists of four phases: the (more…)
“What’s up man, you want to hit up the Longbranch tonight?Cool, I’ll get up with you later.” Ronnie ends the call and heads out on a beer run. After the last sip of Gin, Stan finishes up one of his many fan letters, drops it in the box, and starts to get ready for the night. “What’s good?” It was Ronnie’s cousin Squirrel on the line. “You okay with Stan going tonight?” “Yeah,” Squirrel says, “he’s got a sweet ride… we’ll let him drive! He let me drive that GT all last week, that thing is hot!” “Sounds like a plan! Let me go dude, bout to head in and get some cold beer.”
“911, what’s the nature of your emergency?“
“Yes, there is an overturned car, looks like maybe a Mustang, a red Mustang. I’m just off Highway 9. It’s down an embankment…I can see two people laying on the ground and one person still in the car. The two people on the ground are moving, but the one in the car looks bad!”
“Police and EMS are on the way ma’am.“
“Okay, I have my emergency flashers on, can you stay on the phone with me until they get here… it’s really dark and cold. I’m scared.”
“I’m here ma’am, try to calm down. Can you give me a description of the people involved, maybe what they’re wearing?“
“The one that’s lying near the car is wearing red jeans with a white T-shirt, and it looks like he has a black and green high-top sneaker on his left foot only, just a sock on the other. The other one out of the car has regular blue jeans on, and a green shirt with boots. It’s hard for me to see the guy in the car… looks like he has on jeans and some kind of black concert T-shit, I can see tour dates and make out the word “Shady”. Hey, the police are here, so I’ll hang up now.”
A lot is at stake here and we have quite a dilemma, three occupants involved in a single vehicle crash with one fatality and no idea who the driver is. The stakes begin to rise immediately, at the scene of the crash. What’s documented or not documented will affect the outcome of this case. It will affect the outcome of this case when everyone has gathered with suit and tie, when hands are placed on the Bible, and the truth is sworn to be told.
We’ve talked about proper collision scene documentation several times, but this time let’s talk about a few ways we can build a case like this and possibly identify beyond a reasonable doubt who was driving at the time of the wreck. (more…)
As an experienced safety consultant, I am often called upon to investigate a wide range of premises liability incidents. One common type of incident that frequently results in serious injury is a fall on a painted walking surface.
The ASTM International Standard Practice for Safe Walking Surfaces, ASTM F1637, is a nationally recognized consensus standard that has existed for more than 30 years. It provides guidance to property owners and designers in the construction and maintenance of safe walking surfaces. The standard specifically addresses painted walking surfaces in Section 5.1.3.
ASTM F1637-21 states:
5.1.3 Walkway surfaces shall be slip resistant under expected environmental conditions and use. Painted walkways shall contain an abrasive additive, cross-cut grooving, texturing, or other appropriate means to render the surface slip resistant where wet conditions may be foreseeable.
Stairs that contain three or fewer risers are considered short flight stairs according to safety standard ASTM F1637-21: Standard Practice for Safe Walking Surfaces. Single step transitions are also considered a short flight stair. Short fight stairs can be particularly hazardous for pedestrians due to the lack of visual cues signifying an elevation change. Unexpected changes in elevations can cause pedestrians to misstep and fall. (more…)
Selecting the best or most effective way to reduce or eliminate risk from a particular machine hazard is an extremely important process. It can mean the difference between someone going home and hugging their wife and children…to never going home again. The hazard control hierarchy (see figure below) is an available tool that illustrates what is known to be most effective to least effective when it comes to eliminating machine hazards or reducing the risk from those hazards to an acceptable level. Removing the hazard by designing it out is by far most effective. (more…)
Fire. Something about fire touches our brainstems…both good and bad! Uncontrolled fire is terrifying and deadly to be sure. But the controlled burning of wood at a campfire or in a fireplace in your home almost can’t be beat, to my mind! For that very reason, a fairly common amenity to houses nowadays is the gas log fireplace insert.
When not installed properly, these logs will generate soot. These soot particles can leave the fireplace and meander. All. Over. Your. House. (more…)
As we all know, change is a part of life. Sometimes the results from change are good. And we know sometimes change may result in things becoming worse, although it may not be immediately evident. I think it is safe to say that when we intentionally make changes to something, our goal is to make it better with respect to one or more metrics. Engineers working in manufacturing facilities are often asked to make changes to existing machines and processes for multiple reasons: (more…)
Eating and drinking establishments see an average of 7,410 structure fires per year based on a 2017 report published by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). The report analyzed available data from the U.S. Fire Administration’s National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) and the NFPA’s annual fire department survey for the years 2010-2014.
