As summer turns to autumn, a huge danger for many high-traffic office buildings is standing water, but a specialist entrance matting system such as INTRAsystems Waterlogic could be enough to not only save money but also prevent a health and safety headache.
The Health and Safety Executive are clear that employers have a responsibility to minimise slips in the workplace, and one of the biggest causes of puddles and standing water is when it is tracked in on busy days.
The best place to start fixing this is at the entrance, and to find out why, here are the reasons why water is entering your office, why this is a problem and how INTRAsystems can help.
Why Does Water Get Tracked In During Wet Weather?
Office receptions are often high-traffic areas where hundreds of employees will quickly move through, especially at three main points of the day.
- The morning commute
- The lunch rush
- The end of the day
During all three points of the day, people are walking into and out of your office in significant numbers, and because there is little time to properly clean one’s shoes, they will typically bring whatever is on them into the main part of the office themselves.
None of this is intentional; work footwear such as shoes typically have deep grooves in the soles to aid with traction, and whilst this helps one to navigate puddles and muddy parts of the path, it also creates trenches for that water once you enter a dry surface.
This creates muddy, wet footprints and splashes of water which can accumulate and lead to standing water puddles and slip hazards.
As well as this, the sole can sometimes absorb water that is squeezed out of the soles.
Why Are Wet Floors A Problem?
The vast majority of slips are caused by what the HSE calls floor contamination, or where water, oil or other fluids end up on the floor, creating a sudden lack of traction that can cause an accident if someone is unprepared to accommodate for the loss of friction.
Many receptions have smooth surfaces, usually involving polished stone tiles, ceramics, vinyl, varnished wood or other solid flooring solutions.
All of these are designed to be water-resistant, but what this does is create situations where even a slight amount of water could potentially cause a trip hazard.
How Do You Avoid Water Getting Into Your Building?
The solution begins by choosing the right kind of entrance matting; you need a system that can remove the water and other contaminants on the soles of the shoes of visitors.
Typically, this takes the form of a three-step approach:
- A heavy scraper to dislodge dirt and water on the shoe.
- An absorber grid that removes particles of dirt and provides a channel for them to be moved away from the floor.
- A final absorption material which soaks away additional moisture and prevents wet and potentially damaging footprints.
The exact ideal solution will depend on your business’ individual needs, but there are dedicated, personalisable, moisture removal solutions which will stop the vast amount of water on the sole of your shoe.