As people visit your company, you want to ensure that they make it safely inside your building. Public safety is always a concern, and you don’t want one missed opportunity to result in an employee or customer injury. Follow these tips for preventing slipping accidents at your business to protect both visitors and yourself.
Appropriate Grate Choice
Grates over your drainage solutions prevent unnecessary tripping accident, but you’ll need to keep a couple of things in mind. First, you want any covering over a drain to be flush with the pavement around it. Different types of commercial drains offer different levels of visibility. You don’t want a raised grate because, though most people avoid manholes and drains when we see them, we don’t always watch where we’re walking. Additionally, appropriately placed grates allow for water to travel through while they still catch debris. Any opportunity to prevent water from collecting on surfaces keeps them less slick.
Pooling Prevention
This topic leads us naturally into pooling prevention. Choosing the proper types of commercial drain and grate is crucial when it’s in an area with foot or vehicle traffic. Stagnant water attracts insects and critters and starts to wash or wear away the pavement. This standing water may also cause visitors to use alternate walking routes that you’d rather they not, obstruct the view of any dangers beneath the water (e.g., curbs or holes), and make the pavement slippery. Any of these circumstances could result in an accidental slip or fall.
Permeable Pavement
If you are looking into ways to prevent water from backing up in your business’s lots and walkways, consider permeable pavement options. These materials look and feel like asphalt but allow water to seep through so that they don’t pool—and they even help surrounding plant life and urban runoff collection from contamination. With permeable pavement, water will dissipate much more quickly than with concrete, blacktop, or other paving options.
You’ve worked hard to build your own business. Even in striving to take all the necessary preventative measures, things happen. Hopefully, using these tips for preventing slipping accidents at your business will give you peace of mind as you strive to keep people safe.
