Hard surface floors in all kinds of finishes can be beautiful statement features in any facility, but they can also be potentially hazardous. Get the floor wet or fail to remove all the soapy residue from its surface after a cleaning and suddenly your floor can become a danger zone.

According to statistics from the National Safety Council, more than eight million people end up in emergency rooms each year as a result of accidental falls. More than three million of those accidents occur in places of business – restaurants, hotels, schools, offices, and even medical facilities. But this can all be easily avoided by regular floor maintenance plans.

“In order to prevent slips and falls in the workplace, a business has to have some form of strategy that deals with the cleaning and maintenance of its floor,” Russ Kendzior, founder of the Southlake, TX-based National Floor Safety Institute (NFSI) says. “It simply cannot put the responsibility on customers or employees by suggesting they watch where they’re walking.”

The NFSI has taken the initiative to develop a universal standard for floor safety that includes recommendations for facility managers and third party maintenance companies like SOLID. While the NFSI acknowledges that changes need to be made, they aren’t necessarily to the way cleaning is done, i.e. regularly applying a cleaning solution with some form of agitation to polish and clean a floor. After all, dirty floors are just as much of a safety hazard – dust, sand, and other debris all affect floor friction. Instead, they point to the growing movement toward automation and technology as the way to safer cleaning practices.

Facility managers should pay special attention to four key floor maintenance tools: foam, automated dispensing systems, hygienic recovery tanks, and automated foam scrubbing systems. Using foam solutions to clean your floors dramatically reduces the amount of water needed to create the cleaning solution, offering more traction than traditional agents and less tendency to migrate or spatter. Foam, therefore, is a safer choice for obtaining cleaner and drier floors.

Automated chemical dilution and proportioning systems ensure the proper amount of chemical is used on floors, preventing the sticky or slippery floors that excessive detergent can cause. Hygienic tanks allow users to access and sanitize the recovery and solution tanks on automated scrubbers with ease, eliminating the mold, bacteria, and other contaminants that can grow in enclosed tanks. Not only does this improve a facility’s hygiene, it results in cleaner and safer water.

These high-traction cleaning systems mean fewer falls and dollars saved, not just in reduced insurance claims, but (in some cases) lower insurance rates.

Unsure how to begin implementing safer cleaning practices within your facility? SOLID is here to help. Not only are we able to teach your staff the right techniques, we’re also able to set up automated chemical dilution and proportioning systems to ensure optimal floor traction at all times. Contact us today and start setting up a maintenance plan guaranteed to prioritize the safety of your staff and clients.