This Bus station was built as a temporary structure over 18 years ago and at the time there was no thought or consideration to how slip resistant the floors would need to be, as regulations and the claim culture wasn’t as prevalent then as it is now.
There is a very steep slope in the station due to its location and the tiles that were installed when it was built weren’t slip resistant in wet conditions.
Another issue that compounded the problem was the poor design of the building, as it suffered from severe condensation in certain weather conditions, which made the floor wet and slippery.
The previous custodians of the building had tried to solve the slip issues with quick fix solutions that didn’t last and their cleaning regime wasn’t fit for purpose.
The local authority took over the day to day running of this facility and started to upgrade and renovate it.
We were called in to consult with them about the slip issues and soon found that their problems were greater than anyone had expected.
There was underlying damp issues with the tiles so a coating system wasn’t suitable and it was thought that due to their poor cleaning regime and the degree of slope on the floors that it wouldn’t be suitable to install an anti slip treatment, which relies heavily on the floor being kept clean to maintain the slip resistance.
It was decided by all concerned that we would overlay the existing tiles with a hardwearing, anti slip tile, which would not only alleviate the slip issues but also refresh the tired looking floors.
We carried the installation at nights after the station had closed and left our work areas ready for use every morning before the station opened.
The installation took 7 days due to the short working hours allowed and since the installation the slip incidents have almost disappeared.
