Anti Slip Tape For a Safer Workplace

The most common type of workplace accident is slips and trips. Over 10,000 workers suffered a serious injury as the result of a slip or trip last year, costing millions of pounds in sick days and compensation cases. The truth is slips and trips in the workplace are easily avoidable if you take appropriate accident prevention. Anti slip tape is inexpensive and easy to apply to apply, yet makes a great difference to the safety of employees and the public.

Non slip tape, or anti slip tape, is commonly used to line the outside edge of steps and stairs and sometimes used to line ramps. If a person climbing up stairs or a step which is lined with tape then places their foot too close the edge of a step where they could lose their footing, the anti slip tape will keep their foot sturdily in place. This use of non slip tape prevents thousands of accidents every year, particularly helping with slippery flooring surfaces such as tiles, wood or laminates, or with floors which get wet either from cleaning, spillages or muddy or rainy weather being trampled inside. Anti slip tapes are durable to be used outdoors too. Pathways, ramps and steps can get slippery from water and mud, and the application of non slip tape on such surfaces ensures that users stay safe.

But anti slip tape doesn't have to be used in the workplace. An increasing number of elderly people or families with young children are having the tape applied inside and outside their homes on steps and ramps. The tapes can be bought in unobtrusive designs which are ideal for home use, such as plain black or white to match floorings, or even transparent.

Disabled access ramps are often quite steep or prone to turning slippery in wet weather. Adding strips of anti slip tape at intervals up the ramp will give wheelchair users extra wheel grip, often essential on steeper or longer ramps. The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 makes it employers' and schools' duty to create accessibility plans for disabilities, and anti slip tape will help you to meet such legislation.

Further uses for non slip tape include lining shelves which hold fragile items, keeping rugs or mats in place, sticking a small piece to the sole of shoes for extra grip or preventing fragile items from slipping and breaking off a desk or shelf. Anti slip tape can be cut to shape and size, and sticking this to the underside of items such as telephones or pen pots will keep them stable. They won't be stuck to the surface, so you will still have the freedom to move things around, but they will have extra grip to protect them if accidentally knocked.

You can buy many different types of non slip tapes. Different widths allow you to cover whole steps or thinly line the edge of them. Buy bright tapes such as yellow or yellow and black hazard stripes, or choose more neutral colours such as black or white, or even transparent tape to match your flooring. It makes sense to choose the colour which will stand out most on your flooring unless you are particularly concerned about changing the look of the area. Bright eyecatching colours increase the chances of a hazard being seen, and therefore avoided.

Some anti slip tape manufacturers have even designed photo luminescence tape which has a glow in the dark design. This is ideal for attracting attention to the hazard in poor lighting. Example uses of photo luminescence anti slip tape include lining stairs in a warehouse which is occupied by overnight workers, or marking steps in a restaurant with low mood lighting.