When you envision a design of a health care setting your goal is a safe and healthy environment.

Sanitary conditions in health care spaces are paramount. Whether it is a patient room, lobby, exam room, operating room or sterilisation room, they need to be kept clean, safe and ready for the next task or emergency. These goals also apply to aged care facilities, retirement homes and other continued independent and assisted living spaces. 

For safety - health care settings cannot go past tiles. The fireproof and anti slip qualities of porcelain tile provides the highest quality of safety for health care spaces. 

For cleanliness - the inherent characteristics of porcelain tile provides a low maintenance solution helped by its durability and stain resistant (low porosity) surface.  

For health - tile provide a hypoallergenic body that is resistant to fungi, mold and bacteria. 

These qualities allow health care staff to maintain, control contaminants and provide safe and healthy flooring for health care settings.  

Aged Care / Retirement Living / Independent and Assisted Living

Assisted and independent living are both designed to provide a healthy and safe environment for individuals to maintain maximum independence and quality of life for as long as possible. 

Porcelain tiles are an effective and simple method of achieving any legislative and building code requirements for aged care facilities. With an array of anti-slip options and fire, bacteria and stain resistant qualities while also offering a wide range of colour, shape and design options, porcelain tiles can meet the design requirements of any space.  

With porcelain tiles, facilities can contribute to safe working environments for staff and attract as well as retain the cared in a comfortable environment.

Slips and falls lead to thousands of injuries in Australia every year, with flooring surfaces playing a major part. The National Slips and Falls Prevention Project sponsored by the Australian Federal Department of Health and Ageing identified that falls were the leading cause of death for persons aged 65 and over. 

Assessing the risks and choosing flooring products that are slip-resistant and suitable for each application is paramount for the designer. The right choice will promote increased safety of users and a reduction in risk level and the likelihood of litigation.​

Tile is the perfect choice for minimising the risk of falls. Tile is available in a range of pre-fabricated anti slip surfaces integrated into the surface of tile. These anti slip surfaces are available across thousands of ranges of different tile designs and shapes so designers can still select flooring options that are both practical, safe and meeting any design requirements. 

There are also slip resistant coatings and treatments available for existing tile to further assist in preventing slips and falls. Further demonstrating the enormous flexibility that tile offers for health care settings.  

Individual applications and projects should each undertake a risk assessment depending on the desired use of the building/ facility. Designers who have knowledge about the causes and consequences of slips and falls are more likely to be able to asses and act on the risks present.

The two main standards for flooring and surfaces to adhere to are the Australian Standards 4663 Slip resistance measurement of existing pedestrian surfaces and Australian Standards 4586 Slip resistance classification of new pedestrian surface materials.

​The Australian Standards AS/NZS 4586 and CSIRO HB197 provide non slip ratings specifically for aged care applications:

• Hospitals and aged care facilities (dry areas): R9
• Hospitals and aged care facilities (wet areas): R10
• Hospitals and aged care facilities (ensuites): R10​

Tiles are even available to assist the vision impaired, with both textured and glow in the dark options available. 
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One of a porcelain tile's qualities is its longevity due to its durability caused by a tile's density and glazed surface that is resistant to scratches and stains. This means tiles will withstand high foot traffic, spills and the moving of heavy objects such as beds and personal furniture. 

The flexibility of tiles also assists facilities with continuity. The seamless transition from indoors to outdoors using internal and external rated tiles helps with the ease of transfer for the walking assisted, scooters and wheelchairs. 

Design with ceramic tile and every individual and common space becomes a comforting, safe and respectful home away from home.

Medical Centres

Medical centres are flooded with local foot traffic and are critical in supporting and maintaining the health of local communities. The design, safety and cleanliness of these facilities are very important as they are an access point to health care for most individuals.  

Medical centres and your local GPs office flooring can be maintained and installed to the same high sanitary and design requirements of public and private hospitals when using tile. Tiles can provide both a sanitary solution, cleanliness and design flexibility for any medical practice. ​

The versatility of porcelain tiles in design, size and texture allow medical centre designers to create a space that is both comfortable and inspiring for their patients. 

It is almost like porcelain tile was specifically designed for installation in medical centres. Porcelain tile is highly durable, easy to clean and has a long life span. Tile's body and glazes allow it to withstand heavy foot traffic, resist moisture and scratches. 

These qualities are critical to maintaining a safe and sanitary facility. In comparison to other flooring options, tile will not absorb smells or spills or stain in anyway.  Tiles are definitely the perfect solution for these types of commercial spaces. 

Tile is also available in anti slip surface options. These options allow medical centres to install anti slip measures to reduce the risk of slips and falls where required by legislation and where risks have been identified. 
 
The Australian Standards AS/NZS 4586 and CSIRO HB197 provide anti slip ratings specifically for medical centre applications:

• Medicine practices, day clinics: R9
• Pharmacies: R9​

Hospitals

The structure of hospital buildings are well planned and heavily regulated. Safety, health and practicality are some of the major factors that influence the design of a hospital. 

The extensive range of tile and its inherent characteristics make it the perfect flooring solution for a hospital setting. ​

​For design purposes, tiles are available in a range of colours, textures, shapes and sizes that provide designers with endless opportunities to create spaces that are both practical and enhance the aesthetics of a hospital. 

Tiles are electrically neutral objects meaning that they are non static. This is important for operating theatres were they require electrically conducting flooring for health and safety. A tile will never give you that spark or jolt of static electricity.  ​

There are a variety of slip resistant finishes and textures available for tile flooring. Whether an area in the hospital requires an anti slip surface for a specific purpose or a risk has been identified, tile has a slip rating that will meet any requirements. The Australian Standards AS/NZS 4586 and CSIRO HB197 provide non slip ratings specifically for hospital applications:

• Hospitals and aged care facilities (dry areas): R9
• Hospitals and aged care facilities (wet areas): R10
• Hospitals and aged care facilities (ensuites): R10
• Disinfection room (wet): R11
• Sterilisation room: R10
• Excrement disposal rooms, unclean nursing work rooms: R10
• Pathological facilities: R10
• Hydrotherapy rooms, medical bath areas: R11
• Wash rooms of operating theatres, plastering rooms: R10
• Sanitary rooms, ward bath rooms: R10
• Rooms for medical diagnostics and therapy, massage rooms: R9
• Operative Theatres: R9
• Wards with hospital rooms and corridors: R9

 
To maintain and meet the high sanitary requirements of hospitals, tiles offer a great solution. Tile is a hypoallergenic flooring option, tile is naturally inert and resistant to dust and other harmful pollutants that are known to cause a variety of health problems.

​Tile is also easy to keep sanitary. Tile's low maintenance and easy to clean surface is helped by a tile's extremely low porosity of 0.5% and its glazed body. These qualities ensure tile is unaffected by abrasive dirt that can create places for bacteria and germs to hide. 
Porcelain tile is also resistant to damage and normal wear and tear. The glazed surfaces of porcelain are incredibly strong even though they are only 2 microns thick. 

Tile is also fire resistant. The inherent characteristic of tile and its manufacturing process makes tile non-flammable. This means that tile will not produce smoke in a fire or emit any toxic fumes, gases or burn during a fire. This is an important factor to consider when selecting a flooring solution as tiles will ensure a clear exit pathway in the event of an emergency due to its fire resistant properties.  

To add to its benefits, porcelain tile is also an eco-friendly product. For more information on its eco-friendly characteristics, see here.

Tiles are also free of dangerous contaminants such as VOC, PVC and formaldehyde.