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Fall 1998 - Article 8

Floor Safety
Portable Slip Meters

Have you ever been confronted in the field with a competitor wielding a portable slip meter? Or, have you had a customer ask you to measure the slip-resistance of his flooring? How do you respond in such an instance? With some key facts it's easy to disarm a competitor or consult a customer on the intricacies of floor safety and portable slip meters.

Portable slip meters, like the Topaka Tester, Brungraber Tester and other horizontal pull meters, are not approved for use by ASTM D-21 (American Society of Test Methods), UL (Underwriters Laboratories) and CSMA (Chemical Specialties Manufacturers Association). Results from portable slip meters do not and cannot be compared to those set forth by the 0.5 standard of the James Machine. The James Machine, using the ASTM D-2047 standard, is the only method found to consistently and reliably simulate the sequence of events which occurs when a person walks on the floor surface. Finally, portable slip meters can be very user-sensitive, often giving completely different results from one person to the next.

Do portable slip meters serve any purpose? Some would argue that they don't because they are not recognized by the courts in slip and fall cases. In fact, using them could open a person (or corporation) up to more legal troubles than if they hadn’t used anything. So, to play it safe, stay away from portable slip meters as a means of assuring floor safety.

Note to our readers: Essential Industries only tests its floor finishes with the James Machine (ASTM D-2047), which is the same device used by UL.