What's a Slip? Down Under!

Even down under, slips and falls continue to cause serious injuries. What is the problem? Slips and falls are an increasingly serious cause of injury and death. They are second only to injuries and deaths from motor vehicle accidents. Falls are the number one cause of accidental injury, resulting in around 20 percent of all emergency room visits in the USA. Similar rates occur in Australia when the population difference is taken into account. Indeed, in economic terms, falls cost Australia more than any other cause of injury.

Many slip and fall initiated injuries tend to be hidden in statistics, for example as scald injuries, when the act of falling has caused hot liquids to be spilled. These statistics indicate to an annual per capita cost greater than A$100, where the direct morbidity costs are very high compared with most other types of accidents. Falls occur in virtually all manufacturing and service sectors, but, in Australia, fatal falls are concentrated in construction, mining, and certain maintenance activities. It has also been estimated that falls account for 16% of all insurance claims and 26% of all costs.

Note that falls are generally classified into one of two categories, falls from elevation (approximately 40% of compensable fall cases, approximately 10% of occupational fatalities) and falls on the same level (approximately 60% of compensable fall cases). In the non-occupational environment, victims are typically the very young and the very old.

What is a slip?

Slips result from relative motion (i.e., sliding) between the shoe sole and the floor surface. Sliding occurs if friction is insufficient to overcome forces acting parallel to the shoe-floor interface.

What is a trip?

Trips happen in a different way. The foot is suddenly stopped from moving forward when it meets an unexpected object in its path. Generally most trips are caused by obstructions, with less by uneven surfaces.

What are the issues for employers? Broadly, the issues for commercial and industrial employers involves the reality of occupational health and safety expectations today. Today, state based Occupational Health and Safety acts are often built around the duty of care principle.

Implementing the duty of care principle means planning for the prevention
of workplace accidents, injuries and illnesses.

* As noted from a paper written by my friend and colleage Max Simmons, who is the founder of EpiMax in Australia.

Want to learn more about EpiMax - Visit http://www.epimax.com.au

EpiMax Systems Pty Ltd ©2004, All rights reserved

80/20 Principle or Bust

During my last employment position, I was given the ultimatum to get on this train or get off. For those of you who are unaware of the 80/20 principle and how companies use it, you have a lot to learn. This principle effects all of us in our daily lives and when applied to business can have a drastic affect on the companies performance and bottom line.

80/20 principle explores the axiom that 80% of sales are generated by 20% of the customers, or approximately that ratio; 70/30, 90/10 etc. When a company evaluates their revenue stream they determine that usually the "A" customers are the ones to focus on and the rest are treated differently. By focusing on the these "A" customers the company can generate more sales and grow the business. Each year the company tries to simplify itself by eliminating waste and poor selling products to B and C customers. Eventually loosing the B and C's.

Sounds like a great idea right? Well, it seems to work well in the beginning. What I found seems to happen is that things can be done with less people and the company has no choice but to begin to force some to leave. Profits do improve and I believe that this goal get established fairly quickly. However, cracks in the levy begin to occur when you don't have enough personel to cover the bases and you loose just one or two of the "A" accounts.

The trend can be self fulfilling and cycle down into the ground if care isn't taken. Its tough for the managers to say, well, 20% to 25% operating profits are good enough and lets grow the business now. What seemed to happen at the company I was at is that the employees became alienated and some important people left causing the business unit to take some severe hits.

I believe that the principle works, however, the caveat is that the manager should choose the optimum point for the business and maintain that profit level where the business can be grown without damage. Some companies are pround they practice this principle like ITW who posts it on their annual report and websites. There are those that do not, like Elementis Specialties who practices it but wont advertise it.

You can tell when you have been 80/20'd when you are a small customer and big business doesn't care about you. When they only care about the big customers and would rather you go away. I suggest the best approach for the consumer or small business when you are 80/20'd is to take your business somewhere else. Work with those companies that are really interested in helping those small customers that might become the next Apple or Microsoft.

If you would like to learn more about this secret of success, check out the book "The 80/20 Principle" by Richard Koch. By the way, I got off this train and got on another!

Non-Slip Basics

ANTI-SLIP COATINGS

Engineered Anti-Slip coatings have been used for many years, yet these types of coatings are not widely known. For many years the U.S. Navy has been using epoxy non-skid to coat many types of surface vessels including aircraft carriers. The coatings raise the coefficient of friction of the deck and prevents slips and falls. On aircraft carriers, they stop aircraft and vehicles on the deck from sliding during movement at sea.

Of late, the commercial arena has cropped up with various anti-slip coatings for pedestrian, vehicular, and chemically aggressive environments. These coatings are being used because they reduce liability for companies through reduction in insurance claims for slips and falls.

Early Anti-Slip coatings originally consisted of paint coatings in which sand has been incorporated or broadcast on the surface. These original attempts by paint companies did not work well as the sand becomes dislodged and paint gets worn easily. Today's new classes of Anti-Slips are generally epoxy and contains aluminum oxide. These new breeds of coatings are different from just sand & paint. Epoxies are tough and chemically resistant while aluminum oxide is highly abrasive and resistant to wear. What makes these products unique is the way they are applied. Most Anti-Slip coatings are rolled using a napless roller. This is the solvent resistant phenolic core which you would expect to see inside your regular nap roller.

Application is performed by pouring ribbons of the coating and rolling it out in one direction. When the roller pulls the material, it creates unique ridges with furrows and troughs. These high and low areas provide improved traction. In harsh environments or where water or oil is present the liquids flow in the valleys between the ridges. These coatings can raise the coefficient of friction from 0.5,which is OSHA's minimum for smooth floors to greater than 1.20. Some coatings are sprayed but the majority in the marketplace today are rolled.

For example, recent American with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines ( ADAAG) recommend minimum COF 0.60 for accessible routes and 0.80 for ramps. Most access ramps need to have some form of Anti-Slip applied to meet these minimums. Some of the most common surfaces need an Anti-Slip to prevent slips and falls. For example, Asphalt has a slip coefficient of 0.63-0.67 and Smooth Concrete is 0.74 . These surfaces would need a non-slip coating on a ramp. To learn more about anti-slip coatings, check the website at http://www.antislips.com .