A floor’s first line of defence

According to The Cleaning & Maintenance Research Organisation, in major conurbations such as London the daily atmospheric fallout of grit, grime and soot is estimated at 30 tonnes.

Construction Specialties, a leader in entrance matting systems, says research shows that 85% of the dirt entering a building is brought in on the soles of shoes and the tyres of wheeled traffic. Furthermore, 95% of appearance problems on textile floorcoverings are caused by tracked in dirt. This is not surprising since 1 kg of soil can build up in a square metre of carpet in less than two weeks in dry weather; significantly more in wet weather.

And it is not just carpet that is affected. The abrasive effect of grit brought in by as few as 1,500 people can remove 42% of the floor finish on hard floors.

Prevention is obviously better than cure since the cost of removing dirt once it has entered a building can be very expensive: up to £800 per kilo. The key is to prevent the ingress of soil by the effective use of entrance flooring systems. The first step toward selecting an appropriate system should be BS 7953:1999. This states that an entrance flooring system “...should scrape, wipe and retain...” soil and that it should make contact “...with both feet of people entering the building and, in the case of wheeled traffic, with the circumference of the wheels.”

This applies to internal as well as external situations where people move from a soiled to a clean environment, for example from factory to office, from kitchen to dining room, or from toilets to corridors and circulation areas.

BS 7953 states that an entrance flooring system should reduce slipping incidents by reducing the amount of soil and moisture tracked onto hard and resilient floors. It should also prolong the life of interior floor finishes by reducing the ingress of abrasive soil. In addition it should cut the cleaning requirements of internal floors by reducing the ingress of soil. In order to fulfil these functions an entrance flooring system must remove and retain both soil and moisture. Entrance matting systems should also easily release soil and moisture when cleaned, be hard wearing and retain their physical characteristics through protracted periods of use.

However, claims Brian Newell, Group Chairman of the Shackerley Holdings, although explicit references are made in at least four different British Standards to the importance of entrance matting systems, this critical part of the flooring is often neglected in design schemes for commercial and public buildings.

“There are three key reasons why clients need well-designed barrier matting at every external entrance to their buildings (and in certain internal areas too). The most obvious is to protect all floorcoverings and finishes from unnecessary soiling and premature damage. Ceramic, stone, textile, wood, laminate or vinyl – it makes no difference what type of floor finish has been installed. Its pristine appearance (and eventually its structure) will deteriorate from the effects of wet and dry soiling tracked in on the soles of shoes and tyre treads of wheeled traffic.

When effective entrance matting is installed, interior floors not only last longer, they need less attention. By trapping soil and moisture in one localised area, the frequency of regular and periodic intensive floor cleaning throughout the rest of the building is minimised. As 60% of a building’s total cleaning and maintenance costs can relate to floorcoverings, the potential savings are considerable,” explains Newell.

“The third reason why effective barriers to soiling are needed is safety. With any flooring, moisture contamination can clearly become a slip hazard, but so can dry contaminants. For example, clean ceramic floor tiles that normally have a good co-efficient of friction value in dry conditions can become as slippery as an ice rink if grains of fine sand or street dust are walked or blown onto the floor as these tiny dry particles act as a lubricant,” continues Newell.

As well as BS 7953:1999, more advice can be found in BS 5385: Parts 3 and 4. BS 8300: 2001 also refers to the subject with regard to the needs of people with disabilities, as a badly designed entrance area can present a hazard in its own right.

 

Comments from Lynette Bowden, Group Marketing Manager, Gradus    

HEALTH AND SAFETY
“Recent figures from the Health and Safety Executive attribute 90% of slip accidents in public buildings to wet flooring. With the increased pressure on businesses to meet rigorous health and safety standards, barrier matting has become a crucial part of creating healthy buildings.”

DDA
“Specifying the correct amount and type of barrier matting can help buildings to become inclusive environments, meeting the requirements of Approved Document M of The Building Regulations 2000 and BS7953:1999, in line with guidance in the Disability Discrimination Act. Securely fixed barrier matting with suitable ramping strips can improve access for wheelchair users, by creating a safe, smooth transition to the surrounding floor.”

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY
“A SystemMatic approach, combining the use of primary and secondary barrier matting throughout a building, can be particularly effective. Ideal for use at points of entry, primary matting can be used internally and externally to retain wet and dry debris. Secondary barrier carpet provides an additional barrier that resembles more conventional carpet, whilst offering the moisture retention properties and scrape-off cleaning function of matting. Hence, it is ideal for internal locations prone to excess soil, such as lift lobbies, vending areas and busy circulation areas such as corridors and staircases.”

CLEANING AND MAINTENANCE
“When installed correctly, barrier matting can offer superior protection against the transfer of dirt and moisture into internal areas, but its performance can be compromised if the matting area is not sufficiently maintained. Fitters and designers should be aware of this and instruct facility managers accordingly. Any area of matting should be vacuumed daily to avoid a build-up of dirt and debris, which can clog up in the mat’s structure. Periodic deep cleaning together with the use of certain detergents to remove heavy stains is also advisable. The frequency and type of cleaning will often be determined by the volume of foot traffic and amount of soiling, therefore a tailored cleaning programme should be developed to maximise the lifecycle of the matting system and adjacent floorcoverings.”

 

Despite all the guidance, many entrance flooring systems are poorly specified or inadequately sized. That means clients are not maximising the life of their new floor finishes or benefiting from long term savings. In some cases they are also failing to exercise their duty of care towards the safety of users of their premises.

According to Newell, to ensure the most appropriate barrier matting system is specified many questions need to be answered concerning the location of the entrance area (which determines the type and amount of soiling expected), and also the level and type of traffic that will cross the threshold.

Where is the entrance area situated? Is the outside approach sheltered by a canopy or a veranda? Should an area of primary matting be installed outside the building to provide a first line of defence? Will the area be prone to prevailing wind and rain and therefore need a system that can absorb large amounts of water? For extreme, in cases where excessive rainfall is expected, a suspended drained reservoir system might be necessary to ensure water can collect without flooding.

Where very heavy levels of dry soil are expected, such as coastal locations where sand can be a constant problem, the emphasis will be on using mat components designed to effectively brush the soles of shoes and providing adequate capacity to collect the soil.

If the entrance area is adjacent to a busy car park or garage, different contaminants may have to be removed. Flexible textile tufts and scraping filaments might be appropriate to remove more oily, greasy soil from the soles of shoes.

The sheer amount of soil anticipated should determine the overall size of matting needed and how the soil is collected. Most mats are woefully undersized for the tasks they have to perform and this really is a false economy. Each entrance area will have its own considerations but, for guidance, BS 5385: Part 3: 2007 calls for the length of the entrance flooring system to allow a minimum of two footfalls for each foot, while BS 5385: Part 4: 1992 calls for a distance of up to 6 metres where high density pedestrian traffic is anticipated.

In terms of collecting the soil, a ‘reservoired’ mat is suitable for heavy pedestrian traffic areas where normal levels of foot-borne soiling are expected. Other design are available where higher soiling levels are expected.

The volume of 'traffic' anticipated is also critical. Will the matting system have to cater for thousands of pedestrians every day? Will all those entering the building be on foot, or does wheeled traffic use the area too? With so many factors to consider, it is obvious that no single design of entrance mat can be relied upon to deliver optimum performance in every situation. It is thus essential to carry out a through assessment of each location’s need and to design the installation with input from an entrance flooring specialist to help ensure that a welldesigned, custom-made, solution is provided in every instance.

Perhaps the first port of call for specifiers seeking further information should be the Entrance Flooring Systems Association (EFSA). This trade association promotes the correct specification, use and maintenance of entrance flooring systems. The EFSA can offer technical information, consultancy services, testing facilities and quality assessments.