New flooring Standard to cut down on slip-ups (1999-08-31) 

A new Australian Standard for slip resistance of pedestrian areas has been released in a bid to address one of the main factors cited in personal injury litigation in Australia.

Standards Australia has published AS/NZS 4586:1999, Slip resistance classification of new pedestrian surface materials, to provide manufacturers with a range of test methods that can be used to classify slip resistance of their materials.

The Standard supersedes, in part, the existing AS/NZS 3661.1:1993, Slip resistance of pedestrian surfaces - Requirements, which will remain in force at least until a second Standard for measuring the slip resistance of existing pedestrian surfaces is published.

According to Richard Bowman, Principal Research Scientist with CSIRO and Chairman of the Committee responsible for the Standard, AS/NZS 4586:1999 breaks new ground by rejecting the use of a universal minimum slip resistance threshold value to determine practicality and safety.“A coefficient of friction of 0.4 is no longer considered as the arbiter of safety,” Mr Bowman said.“This new paradigm is intrinsic to an Interim Slip Resistant Handbook that Standards Australia has commissioned CSIRO to prepare.”

The Interim Handbook will be published shortly to provide minimum recommendations for pedestrian surface materials in some specific locations, as well as guidance on requirements for ramps and other sloped areas.

Mr Bowman said it would be up to local government authorities to determine whether new surfaces would be required to comply with AS/NZS 3661.1:1993 or the Interim Handbook recommendations. The Interim Handbook will be the precursor to a more comprehensive Slip Resistance Handbook which, when published, will expand on guidelines for the reduction of slip hazards.

The existing AS/NZS 3661.2:1994, Slip resistance of pedestrian surfaces - Guide to the reduction of slip hazards, will be withdrawn when the more comprehensive Slip Resistance Handbook is published.