May 2019

With Transport for London’s new Bus Safety Standard demanding mandatory slip-resistance test values after six months in situ, measures relating to ex-factory slip resistance are no longer enough to rely on.

In step with the demands of service

Flooring specifically engineered for use in heavy duty buses will be built to withstand wear, but how much wear does it need to be able to tolerate? How much wear is too much?

In an average London bus, an area of concentrated foot traffic could see 230,390 steps per year.¹ Even in quieter services outside London, buses could see an average of 2,993 steps per month in concentrated areas of foot traffic, adding up to 35,916 steps in a year.

Good to know, but what does this all mean for sustained slip resistance?

Pendulum test values and slip risk

Pendulum test values are indicative of the potential slip risks associated to a particular surface. The Bus Safety Standard requires a floor to provide a pendulum test value of ≥36 from new, rising to PTV ≥40 after six months of service. This mitigates slip risks to one in a million. Specifying a floor covering with a lower value can significantly reduce this level of protection and leave passengers and operators open to additional risk.

*According to CIRIA’s Safer Surfaces to Walk On

So, if you choose a floor with a pendulum test value of between 29 and 33, you could potentially be risking two slips per month in the Greater London area. Even with a floor with a pendulum test value of between 34 and 36, you’d be risking two slips per year. Only with a pendulum test value of 36 or higher would you be assured of mitigating the risks associated with the level of foot traffic experienced in a heavy bus environment.

If you want to find out more about the Pendulum test, read our guide here.

Sustained safety

But, mitigated risks are still dependent on the floor in question sustaining its pendulum test value at 36 or higher for the period of its service life.

Testing with a machine such as the Pedatron is the best way to accurately emulate wear on a floor.

The Pedatron imitates the step of a person by repeatedly subjecting the floor to friction from a rubber soled shoe with the same weight behind it as would be expected from an average male human.

Look for a floor which has aggregate distributed throughout the thickness of the wear layer. This means that as the wear layer wears away, the components which create the slip resistance are always in contact with the soles of the shoes walking on it. With floors built this way, slip resistance may improve with wear.

Beware of additives that are sold as an extra wear layer to increase the slip resistance of the floor – once this extra layer has worn away, what are you left with if the material beneath fails to meet PTV ≥36?

Altro bus flooring products are engineered to maintain a one in a million slip risk, even after one million steps, without the need for any added slip-resistant layers.

¹According to Transport for London figures for 2017.

Recofloor are celebrating being shortlisted in two of the waste industry’s most prestigious awards events.

Recofloor has been shortlisted for the Circular Economy Project of the Year award at the Business Green Leaders Awards. Recognising sustainable business models, and clean technologies, the awards are in their 9th year. Recofloor’s entry highlighted the unique strengths of the scheme in pioneering a genuine circular economy project and overcoming significant logistical challenges in doing so.

Recofloor has also been shortlisted in the Recycling Excellence (SME) category at the National Recycling Awards, the waste management and recycling industry’s leading awards for best practice. Recofloor highlighted the buy-in and engagement, not only of the manufacturers founding and funding the scheme, but of the committed collector base that Recofloor has built over the last 10 years.

Speaking about the double shortlisting, Recofloor’s Project Officer Joe Gardner commented:

“Being shortlisted for these two very highly competitive awards is another recognition of Recofloor’s success in pioneering a genuinely unique collaboration along the flooring supply chain. We’re delighted that Recofloor’s continued success is being recognised, especially in our 10th anniversary year.”

The Business Green Leaders results will be announced on Wednesday 26th June at The Brewery, London with the National Recycling Awards ceremony on Thursday 27th June at the London Hilton Park Lane.

Recofloor is the national vinyl take-back scheme founded in 2009 by Altro and Polyflor for the commercial flooring industry. Recofloor collect post-installation vinyl flooring and recycle it into new flooring.

Congratulations to all the winners at the recent Recofloor Awards held at The Belfry Hotel and Resort and guest hosted by comedian Mark Watson.

Back row, left to right: Rhodri Dixon (3D Flooring Supplies), Ash Quickenden (Middlesex Flooring), Gary Sinclair (GS Flooring), Niall Kinsella (MCD Kidderminster), Andy Nichols (HFD Bridgend) and Tim Vaughan (A Cumberlidge) Front row, left to right: Steve Dixon (S&D Flooring), Mark Watson, Anthony Francis (Mayfield Floors), Ellis Harper (AA Flooring) and Lyndon Simms (CT Flooring)

2019 is the 10th anniversary of the Recofloor scheme, co-founded by Altro and Polyflor who are proud to be celebrating a decade of collecting and diverting over 4000 tonnes of vinyl flooring away from landfill.

Well done to all nominees, and all those named as bronze, silver and gold Award winners.

Congratulations in particular to the following:

Contractor of the Year
Winner – Fineweave Carpets
Highly Commended – Bailey & Taylor

Distributor of the Year
Winner – Fitwell Flooring
Highly Commended – SFS Flooring Supplies

Drop-off User of the Year
Winner – Fantasy Flooring
Highly Commended – County Contracts

Project of the Year
Winner – Middlesex Flooring (Altro Reliance 25 used in the project at Charterhouse School
Highly Commended – Midlands Flooring

Recofloor Champion of the Year Winner – Andy Nicholls, HFD Bridgend
Highly Commended – Andy Hardy, Premier Carpets and Flooring (SW)

Greatest Improver
Winner – Lee Floorstok, Liverpool
2nd Place – PFL, Dublin
3rd Place – Fitwell Flooring

Brand Ambassador
Branagan Flooring

Best Newcomer
CT Flooring

Outstanding Achievement
Birch Distribution

Longstanding Service Award
Reform Flooring

Lee Harvey Award
Anthony Francis, Mayfield Floors

Mark Watson presenting Anthony Francis, Mayfield Floors with the Lee Harvey Award

Recofloor has collected and recycled more than 4,300 tonnes of vinyl flooring over the last 10 years. That’s enough to cover 200 football pitches!

This successful scheme diverts waste vinyl flooring from being sent to landfill through the efforts of its collectors throughout the UK and Ireland. 60 drop-off sites at distributors’ premises accept vinyl flooring, providing a convenient and cost-effective service for flooring companies and contractors, helping to save on disposal costs.

Recofloor has some exciting things planned to mark 2019’s anniversary year and you’re all invited to celebrate with us!