Below is a letter Vice President John C Sotter composed to the Access Board on January 17th of 2025: “Hello Access Board, This page https://www.access-board.gov/ada/vehicles/appendix-advisory-guidance/ discussing what makes a floor slip resistant discusses values from test standards that have long been withdrawn and no longer exist, and that makes the ADA and Access Board clearly … Continue reading “The United States Access Board (ADA) is clearly complicit in the American slip and fall epidemic”
Category: Floor Friction Testing
Renting a Pendulum Floor Slip Tester: A VERY BAD IDEA!!
At Safety Direct America, we have been experts in pendulum floor slip resistance testing for well over two decades. We calibrate pendulum slip resistance testers for companies and government agencies around the world, and we made most of the updates to the latest version of the American test method for use of the pendulum dynamic … Continue reading “Renting a Pendulum Floor Slip Tester: A VERY BAD IDEA!!”
View English XL and Mark IIIB Floor Friction Data with Suspicion
A recent paper published by Siegmund et al. called “Quantifying the uncertainty in tribometer measurements on walkway surfaces” states that data from the English XL and Brungraber Slip-Test Mark IIIB are “less accurate than they appear.” This is in part because the user is “a key component to the system,” influencing the numerical outcome of … Continue reading “View English XL and Mark IIIB Floor Friction Data with Suspicion”
Myth Busted: More Grout Lines Does Not Make a Floor More Slip Resistant
There’s a myth that tile manufacturers (especially manufacturers that sell tiny tiles) want you to believe, but it’s just a myth. There’s no science or proof behind the statement that more grout lines makes a floor safer. More grout lines doesn’t actually add any slip resistance to a floor with tiny slippery tiles on it, … Continue reading “Myth Busted: More Grout Lines Does Not Make a Floor More Slip Resistant”
New Australian Study Shows Sotter Engineering (Safety Direct America) is World’s Top Pendulum Floor Slip Resistance Testing Laboratory
A few years ago Sotter Engineering Corporation’s Safety Direct America (SDA) floor slip resistance testing laboratory participated in a global interlaboratory program that showed SDA to be one of the world’s three most accurate labs in use of the pendulum floor slip resistance tester. The pendulum is a national standard for pedestrian floor and tile … Continue reading “New Australian Study Shows Sotter Engineering (Safety Direct America) is World’s Top Pendulum Floor Slip Resistance Testing Laboratory”
SCOF Testing Never Has Been and Never Will Be Relevant To Assessing Floor Slip Resistance
Floor coefficient of friction (COF) testing is the measuring of the slip resistance of a flooring surface. The static coefficient of friction (SCOF) is the force required to start an object moving relative to the surface, divided by the weight of the object on the floor. It is a measure of the resistance to sliding … Continue reading “SCOF Testing Never Has Been and Never Will Be Relevant To Assessing Floor Slip Resistance”
The Importance of Reliable Floor Slip Resistance Testing
Floor slip resistance testing is an essential process for ensuring safety in public spaces, workplaces, and homes. It helps to identify the level of slip resistance (or COF) of a floor surface, which is crucial in preventing injuries resulting from avoidable slips and falls. The most common floor slip resistance testing technique around the world … Continue reading “The Importance of Reliable Floor Slip Resistance Testing”
America’s Floor Slip Resistance Testing Experts
We’ve tested flooring for the dynamic coefficient of friction (DCOF) and slip resistance all over North America and beyond for well over 1,000 individual clients so far as America’s leading independent third-party certified floor friction test lab. We don’t lie in court for slip and fall lawyers (like those who mainly use the Brungraber Mark … Continue reading “America’s Floor Slip Resistance Testing Experts”