Prevent injuries in aged care environments with slip and fall resistance porcelain tiles

Slips and falls lead to thousands of injuries in Australia annually. It is widely accepted that the type of flooring is a major contributing factor to slip and fall incidents. 

The best way to add improved safety and reduce the risk of slip and fall injuries is to choose a flooring solution that has an anti slip surface that is suitable for the application. 

The most common class of people that are at risk of slip and fall injuries are the elderly who can have trouble with balance. This makes them more susceptible to the risk of injury by slipping and falling. 

Carers and staff in aged care environments, both at aged care facilities and in home care situations, owe a duty of care to the individuals under their care. This means that choosing a safe flooring solution is an important consideration when designing a building in aged care environments. When it comes to choosing products to be part of a hospital facility or an aged care facility, the right products are going to ensure a better, safer and cleaner environment for all who utilise the facility.

Porcelain tiles offer a number of solutions that meet regulatory requirements, improve safety and reduce the risk of slip and fall injuries. Below are a number of product types and ranges that can assist aged care facilities meet their duty of care towards their residents and assist those living at home, improve the safety of their residence. 

Australian Standards

The Australian Slip Resistence Standards are based on the AS/NZS 4586 and CSIRO HB197. These standards specify specific anti slip surface conditions that must be met for specific areas in aged care and hospital type facilities. For any dry areas in an aged care facility, the building must install flooring that meets an R9 anti slip resistance. This means that all foyers, hallways and rooms must have an R9 anti slip rating. In contrast, for all en-suites within an aged care facility, the building must install flooring that has a R10 anti slip rating. 

Porcelain tiles are available in a range of anti slip surfaces ranging from R9-R12. These tiles can be in either a matt, lapatto, honed or external finish to meet the anti slip reistances required for aged care facilities. There are a wide range of sizes, colours and styles available in these anti slip surfaces so the choices are limitless. This makes porcelain tile one of the most versatile flooring solutions to assist in improving safety at home or in aged care facilities. 

Tac Tiles

Tactiles are a special flooring tile with a very significant raised profile designed to improve two things. 

Tac Tiles can improve grip as a result of their raised profile and ability to create additional undulating surface for the feet to adheree too. 

Tac Tiles also assist with improving guidance for the visually impaired with warning of impending hazard(s) or give directional guidance because of their textured surface.

Tac Tiles are an easy and durable option for improving safety in both aged care facilities and for those living in home care arrangements.

Step Treads

Step treads are traditionally used at the egde of a fall, step or retaining wall where there is risk of falling.

Similar to tac tiles, instead of having a raised profile, step treads have a number of lineal indent across the body of the tile. 

The lineal indent or grooves in the step tread assist the visually impaired with identifying the edge of a surface where there may be a fall and also increase the slip resistance of the surface. 

Step treads also generally have a rounded edge / bullnosed profile. This means the one of the elongated sides of the step tread will be round and smooth to the touch. This makes it the perfect edging for a stair or edge.

Glow in the dark tiles

Glow in the dark tiles are not commonly seen in any application, residential or commercial. However they do provide a great deal of benefits for those that are visually impaired, or for applications where there are raised edges, falls or obstacles. 

It is important to note that a slight raise to a bathroom may not be an obstacle for many people, but as we age, any undulations in the ground or change in the surface under are feet may increasingly become a obstacle that could cause injury. 

Glow in the dark tiles can assist with identifying and making us aware of any obstacles that may exist, including highlighting pathways where there is reduce light. 

Anti slip mosaic tiles

The Nerang Tiles anti slip mosaic tile range are Spanish design, made and suitable for all commercial and residential indoor and outdoor applications. This includes any dry or wet areas, including swimming pools. 

Anti slip mosaic tiles provide improve anti slip surfaces for any application. This reduces the risk of slip and falls by assisting designers improve the slip resistance of floor areas. It also allows opens up a wider range of products, designs and colours to choose from when improving slip resistance safety. 

Nerang Tiles is a multi award winning tile showroom with thousands of quality floor tiles and wall tiles on display at its Gold Coast tile showroom. Visit in store to see the full range of floor tiles and wall tiles as well as all safety tiles, including step treads, tac tiles and more. Take advantage of our expert design team and find out how you can improve the safety of your home or residential aged care space using porcelain or mosaic tile. 

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