CMM - January 2012
Avoiding Slip And Fall Lawsuits Did the building owner or cleaning contractor know of some damage or change to the property that could have been repaired but was not Was there damage or change to the property that a diligent owner or cleaning contractor should reasonably be expected to have discovered and corrected Was the property where the slip and fall accident occurred poorly or inadequately maintained If the answer to any of these questions is yes there may be legal complications for the building owner or cleaning contractor And the one question that might most directly implicate cleaning contractors is the last one Were the floors being properly cleaned and maintained Slips Falls The Law And Floor Care Cleaning professionals developed what was probably the first test often called the beanbag test to determine how slippery a floor is Now suppose a slip and fall accident occurs and investigators place the blame for the accident on the cleaning contractor claiming poor maintenance even negligence caused the accident How could this be Two of the more common cleaningrelated causes are the following Hard surface floors are cleaned using a dust mop with an oil treatment to help collect dust Over time the oil builds up on the floors surface causing a degree of damage or change to the floor referring to the first criterion mentioned earlier This causes the COF to decline resulting in a slippery condition and leading to the accident The mops and buckets used to maintain the floor are quickly soiled during the cleaning process and actually spread impurities and soiled chemical solution on the floor instead of removing them This causes a slippery residue to build up on the surface of A 10 pound bag of beans connected to a rudimentary scale was dragged over the floor If there was more than six pounds of drag the floor was considered safe if there was less than six pounds it was considered slippery with the potential for a slip and fall accident to occur This was the forerunner of the coefficient of friction COF measuring system which we use today to measure how slippery a floor is or to test the products such as finish applied to the floor Far more precise a COF of 05 or less is considered slippery and more than this safe Lets suppose that a contractor cleans and maintains a floor that has a COF greater than 05 and that the finishes glosses and related products used to maintain the floor also have a COF in the safe range Lets also suppose that the contractor believes that to the best of his or her understanding the work performed is proper and adequate LIGHT TRAFFIC WATER ONLY LOW PRESSURE FLOW SPILLS HEAVY TRAFFIC ULTRA LOW DETERGENT MEDIUM PRESSURE FLOW Water only Or detergent On the fl y By putting full control of detergent down pressure and water fl ow at your fi ngertips the EcoFlex system lets you apply the exact fl oor cleaning muscle you need on the fl y Available only on Advance scrubbers this fl exible cleaning system signifi cantly reduces costs Product Information no 203 on page 24
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