Preventing Accidents With Non Slip Tape
Slips and trips are the most common type of accident. Over 10,000 workers suffered a serious injury as the result of a slip or trip last year, costing millions of pounds in sick days and compensation cases. The truth is slips and trips in the workplace are easily avoidable if you take appropriate accident prevention. Anti slip tape is inexpensive and easy to apply to apply, yet makes a great difference to the safety of employees and the public.
Non slip tape is commonly used to line the outside edges of steps and stairs, and also running across ramps. If a person climbing up stairs or a step which is lined with tape then places their foot too close the edge of a step where they could lose their footing, the anti slip tape will keep their foot sturdily in place. Many accidents are prevented each year by the use of non slip tapes, particularly on floorings which are slippery, such as tiles, wood or laminates, or areas which tend to get rainwater or mud trampled on. Anti slip tapes are durable to be used outdoors too. Pathways, ramps and steps can get slippery from water and mud, and the application of non slip tape on such surfaces ensures that users stay safe.
But anti slip tape doesn’t have to be used in the workplace. Steps and ramps inside or outside the home can also be made safer with non slip tapes; particularly useful for elderly people or parents concerned about children slipping down steps. The tapes can be bought in unobtrusive designs which are ideal for home use, such as plain black or white to match floorings, or even transparent.
Disabled ramps can turn slippery in wet weather or are just too steep for wheels to grip well enough. Adding strips of anti slip tape at intervals up the ramp will give wheelchair users extra wheel grip, often essential on steeper or longer ramps. The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 makes it the law for employers, schools and service providers to provide disabled access, and this access is often made much more effective with the use of anti slip tapes.
Further uses for non slip tape include lining shelves which hold fragile items, keeping rugs or mats in place, sticking a small piece to the sole of shoes for extra grip or preventing fragile items from slipping and breaking off a desk or shelf. Anti slip tape can be easily cut to shape with scissors, so stick to the underside of a telephone or pen pot to keep them in place on a desk. They won’t be stuck to the surface, so you will still have the freedom to move things around, but they will have extra grip to protect them if accidentally knocked.
You can buy many different types of non slip tapes. Different widths allow you to cover whole steps or thinly line the edge of them. Buy bright tapes such as yellow or yellow and black hazard stripes, or choose more neutral colours such as black or white, or even transparent tape to match your flooring. It makes sense to choose the colour which will stand out most on your flooring unless you are particularly concerned about changing the look of the area. Eyecatching colours such as yellow attract attention to the hazard, increasing the chances of an accident being avoided.
Some anti slip tape manufacturers have even designed photo luminescence tape which has a glow in the dark design. This serves the purpose of drawing attention to a poorly lit hazard. Example uses of photo luminescence anti slip tape include lining stairs in a warehouse which is occupied by overnight workers, or marking steps in a restaurant with low mood lighting.
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