Winter is right around the corner and that means so are the winter safety hazards you need to worry about. As many business owners and warehouse operators know, up to 85% of worker’s compensation claims are attributed to employees slipping and falling on slick floors, and 22% of these incidents result in over 31 days away from work.
However, slips and falls are only the number one cause of accidents in buildings. There are several other winter-related hazards that can put you and your warehouse employees at risk. Surprisingly, your flooring can actually help to mitigate many of these risks for you. Here are five ways your flooring and floor coatings can help to protect your warehouse workers this winter.
Concrete is one of the best possible flooring options for warehouses and businesses and not just because it’s heavy-duty. Concrete flooring helps to reduce the risk of respiratory issues, especially for allergy suffers. The reason for this is because concrete floors are extremely easy to clean and maintain, allowing cleaning crews to easily clean any debris. What’s more, concrete flooring can also be easily disinfected using bleach, water, and a mop. You don’t have to worry about allergens, pathogens, or volatile organic compounds (VOCs) soaking up into the fibers of any of the flooring like you would with carpet. Because your concrete floors can be easily cleaned and disinfected, you can feel confident knowing your employees have a greater chance of staying healthy.
Concrete floor coatings aren’t just for the protection of your floors and your warehouse. They’re also for the protection of your employees, customers, business partners, and you. Compared to uncoated concrete flooring, coated concrete floors offer better traction so you’re more likely to maintain your balance while walking across the floor. While it’s still crucial to put up a “wet floor” sign when there are wet areas, you can feel more secure knowing there’s a reduced risk of slips and falls when you use concrete floor coatings.
Another reason to consider concrete floor coatings, such as polyaspartic coatings, is because they help to maintain the quality of your floors. This might not seem like a safety hazard at first, but over time uncoated flooring can suffer from chips and cracks. Depending on how big these chips and cracks can get, they can pose a safety hazard in your warehouse.
Not only can these cracks cause employees and customers to trip and fall, but they can also cause equipment to snag on the floor and risk falling over or dropping heavy cargo. To reduce the risk of these kinds of injuries, make sure your warehouse flooring is securely coated with strong and dependable polyaspartic coatings. These coatings can actually be installed in a single day depending on the size of your warehouse and, because they give off little odor, they can be applied even in warehouses or facilities that don’t have a lot of ventilation.
While it’s important to mark areas as wet when there’s been a spill or leak, the presence of water isn’t always visible immediately. This is especially true in darker areas of a warehouse. Fortunately, concrete floor coatings create a clear and reflective surface, which allows these spills and leaks to be detected more easily. Areas where there’s been a spill or leak can then be sealed off, labeled, and cleaned to reduce the risk of slips and falls.
Safety is vital in a warehouse, especially during the winter season when slips, trips, and falls are more of a concern. Fortunately, the right floor coating can help to mitigate these common winter risks so you can operate your facility confidently and efficiently. If you’re looking for concrete floor coating contractors Northern VA warehouse operators can rely on, look no further than Collins Concrete Coating. Not only do we offer concrete floor coating services but we also offer self-leveling concrete systems to ensure your floors are as safe as possible. To learn more about our flooring services, contact Collins Concrete Coating today.