• Food Industry
• Catering and Restaurants
  • Commercial Kitchens
  • Food Service Areas
  • Restaurant and Public Toilets
• Drinks
• Engineering
• Health and Pharmaceutical
• Leisure and Retail
• Paper and Print

Slip Resistance

Slips and trips are the most common cause of major accidents at work. The costs to industry are substantial, not counting the incalculable human cost and suffering to those injured. Legal actions brought as a result of an injury can be extremely damaging to business, especially where customers are involved. Insurance only covers a small proportion of the cost, and only if the floor is deemed as suitable in the first place. Acrylicon has various surface textures available for use on its systems. The roughest Décor Plus, meets all the Health and Safety slip resistance requirements, even when contaminated with margarine and fats. Because of Acrylicon’s unique chemical bond, any texture added to the surface becomes monolithic with the floor, and provides excellent abrasion resistance. We are also able to change areas from high grip texture to smooth texture and back again, by cleaning the surface and applying the texture. This can of course be carried out in short shutdown periods or overnight, and with the 2 hour cure, can be used again straight afterwards. There will always be a trade off between slip resistance and cleanability, therefore you can choose a system that is right for your environment. Under equipment can be smooth for ease of cleaning, and where contamination and traffic is likely, we can lay heavy texture for high slip resistance. Of course if these areas change in use, Acrylicon can always change the floor surface – giving you complete flexibility.

Cleanability

The Floor must be non-porous and free of pinholes, and be capable of withstanding the chemical abuse caused by spillages and cleaning. If the surface breaks down, delaminates or becomes porous the outcome can be slippery or uneven areas, with added hygiene hazards. The floor system must retain its cleanability for life, not just for the first year or two. Acrylicon is 100% solid, resin saturated acrylic. The non-porous, monolithic, impervious Acrylicon surface does not allow penetration by liquids and dirt, or the proliferation of fungi or bacteria. Acrylicon Systems are highly resistant to chemical attack, cleaning agents, liquids and foodstuffs. Chemical bonding ensures that the wearing surface remains locked into place for the life of the floor.

Aesthetic

Creating an environment that is conducive to high productivity and which reflect corporate values and quality standards is always important. Acrylicon provides a dynamic range of colours that can be blended to meet any requirement of the designer or architect.

Heavy Footfall

Constant footfall inevitably causes wear and tear. Flooring systems that fall short in terms of wear resistance, result in unsightly environments and the need for costly ongoing maintenance and refurbishment coupled with high cleaning costs. Acrylicon has demonstrated over many years high levels of wear resistance and ease of cleaning over the expected life of the floor, not just when new.

Termination to other floors

Acrylicon is nominally laid at 4mm thick and “toe-ins” are created at junctions to other finishes to ensure there are no steps or abrupt changes in level to disturb passing traffic. There are some occasions when Acrylicon need to be thickened at these abutments and again this is done in a manner which will not cause problems.

UV Resistance

Most new floors look good in terms of colour, but many flooring systems show the ageing effect of UV light very quickly, both fading and discolouration. Acrylicon Systems are highly resistant to the ageing and discolouration effects of UV attack, ensuring that the aesthetic qualities of the floor are guaranteed for the long term.

Warranties

Material manufactures will usually only guarantee their products. Installers usually restrict their guarantee to the installation and align it with the Manufacturers guarantee. This inevitably means that there is not a full guarantee on the system. If it fails the divided responsibilities leave the client exposed, particularly where the manufacturer and installer blame each other for the problem. Most guarantees do not:

Provide Design and “Fit for purpose” warranties.

Mention the “life expectancy of the system”.

Specify the “period to first maintenance”.

Acrylicon provides a full and detailed warranty with no split responsibilities because we manufacture the resins, design the system and install it. Acrylicon provides a meaningful warranty that highlights the main areas of guarantee and backs it up with reference locations that are as old as the length of warranty Acrylicon provides. Note: The “life expectancy” of a floor depends upon installing a floor that is correctly specified for the purpose to which it is to be put. The only true guarantee is to select a floor in the first instance which can demonstrate a proven track record in other, similar locations and environments. Invariably the costs of rectifying a defective floor will far exceed the initial cost even excluding any losses associated with production shutdowns to accommodate the repairs. “Life expectancy” means the period for which all of the original design criteria are still functioning e.g. if the floor cannot be cleaned then it has failed even if it is still adhering to the substrate.