How Polished Concrete Aids Slip-Resistance and Safety

Slips, trips, and falls account for the majority of workplace incidents. While many of these accidents don’t result in severe injury, some can lead to sprains, broken bones, or even death. To maintain a safe work environment and remain compliant with OSHA regulations, facility owners and managers must invest in measures to reduce this particular liability.
It should come as no surprise that one of the best ways to reduce the risk of slips, trips, and falls is to pay attention to your facility’s flooring. More specifically, properly polishing your concrete flooring can create a much safer work environment for everyone. Let’s explore how polished concrete improves slip resistance and overall safety at your facility.
How Polished Concrete Improves Slip Resistance and Safety at Your Facility
Enhances Traction
There’s a reason the phrase “slips, trips, and falls” starts with “slips.” Most of the incidents that fall under this broader umbrella result from slick surfaces. Whereas most trips result from an unseen obstacle or uneven portion of flooring, slips can occur just about anywhere so long as the concrete surface is slippery. Isolated spills cause plenty of slips, but some floors are slick all around (often from dust build-up or material wear and tear), greatly increasing the odds of such an incident. Concrete polishing reduces the likelihood of slips by keeping dust at bay and, as we’ll discuss next, facilitating the cleaning process.
Facilitates Floor Maintenance
As alluded to above, dirty flooring is a major contributing factor to slips, trips, and falls. When a floor is wet, dusty, or covered in debris, employees have a much harder time getting from point A to point B in a safe, efficient manner. Maintaining clean floors is a must if you wish to keep all occupants safe. That said, regularly cleaning floors requires significant resources, especially for facilities with a lot of square footage to cover. As such, any measure that reduces the strain on maintenance staff is welcome – this is where concrete polishing solutions come into play.
A sealed or polished concrete floor is much easier to keep clean than a worn down or bare concrete floor. These solutions provide a smooth, non-porous, even surface that not only prevents dust accumulation but also combats moisture intrusion, abrasions, and more. Ultimately, though polished floors still require ongoing maintenance, this maintenance is easier to perform.
In the video below, Doug Blake, our Director of Flooring, talks about the advancements in polishing concrete and utilizing power trowels to increase efficiency and safety during the concrete polishing process.
Increases Visibility
Visibility is another key component of facility safety. People need to see where they’re going at all times – otherwise, they risk tripping over or running into an obstacle. A properly polished concrete floor offers a bright, reflective finish that amplifies a room’s lighting, keeping your facility highly visible throughout the day. As an added bonus, this high light reflectively value (LRV) saves your facility money over time by reducing energy costs. The more reflective your flooring, the less energy you have to spend on cranking up your interior lighting.
Polished Concrete Flooring FAQs
Have more questions about concrete polishing? We have answers.
How Safe Are Polished Concrete Floors?
Polished concrete floors increase facility safety by improving traction, simplifying maintenance, increasing visibility, and more. They also do not release harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the air during installation (unlike epoxy and urethane floor coatings).
What Are the Benefits of Polished Concrete?
Polished concrete floors make facilities safer, cleaner, more appealing, energy-efficient, and easier to maintain. They’re also highly resistant to chemicals, foot traffic, equipment, and other threats, making them valuable long-term assets.
How Do You Protect Polished Concrete?
The great thing about polished concrete floors is that they’re extremely durable, meaning they don’t need much additional protection once installed. That said, it’s important to maintain these floors with basic cleaning practices like regular dusting with microfiber cloths and cleaning with non-corrosive substances.
What’s the Lifespan of Polished Concrete Floors?
Polished concrete floors are built to last and can endure for 15 – 20 years when installed professionally and properly maintained over the years.
Kaloutas: Your Concrete Polishing and Restoration Experts
A safer facility starts with your floors. At Kaloutas, industrial floor polishing is just one of our many specialties. We offer a wide range of facility improvement and maintenance services to keep your workplace safe, efficient, and functional — this includes industrial fireproofing, containment, cleaning, sealing, and more. To learn more about us and all that we do, contact us online or give us a call at 978−532−1414 today!