Operational experience with a portable friction testing device in university buildings.

Following a high incidence of falls on the level recorded in a university refectory building, a more detailed examination of accident reports suggested that slippery floors in the main kitchen, serveries, dining area and corridors should be subjected to a quantitative investigation. Using a specially designed lightweight portable friction-testing device, dynamic and static coefficients of friction were measured. This enabled an assessment to be made of the ease of use and effectiveness of this portable device, in responding to accidental falls, undertaking surveys of the slip resistance of floor areas and in checking the coefficients of friction of new materials being considered as alternative floor coverings. From the results presented floor surfaces can be compared. Information was also obtained on the effect of surface projections in increasing coefficients of friction. A detailed series of measurements taken on polished woodblock floors indicated the changes during the drying of the polish, and the im...