The question a claim asks
Public liability claims for slips turn on foreseeability and reasonableness. Did the occupier know, or should it have known, that the floor was a risk, and did it take reasonable steps? A slip test speaks directly to both. If the floor met the HB 198:2014 recommendation for its location, the occupier can show the surface was appropriate. If it did not, the occupier's position depends on whether it knew and what it did. Either way, an occupier with no measurement at all is arguing from nothing.
Test soon after the incident
Slip resistance is a property of the surface on the day. Cleaning, weather and traffic change it, and a floor tested three months after a fall may not be the floor the person fell on. Testing within days, before any change to cleaning or any remedial work, gives the closest available picture of the conditions at the time. Note the contamination present, the weather, the cleaning schedule and the mat condition at the same time. Photographs with a date and a location reference are worth taking even before the technician arrives.
Do not fix first and test later
The instinct after a fall is to do something immediately: put down a mat, change the cleaner, coat the floor. Interim controls such as signage, matting and cordoning are sensible and should be recorded. Permanent changes to the surface before it has been measured destroy the evidence of its condition, and can be read as an admission. Test, then fix, then retest.
What a defensible file looks like
- A report identifying the standard applied, the method, the instrument and its verification, the slider used, the conditions and the technician
- Per-location readings, mean values and classes, with the HB 198:2014 target for that location type stated
- Photographs tying each reading to a specific spot
- Where testing was routine, a run of earlier reports for the same locations showing the history
- Records of what was done about any shortfall and a retest confirming the result
- Cleaning schedules, product data and any changes to them over the relevant period
Reports that consist of a table of numbers without method, targets or photographs are routinely picked apart. See what a report should contain.
Before-and-after reports
Where a floor is treated after a shortfall, the retest report becomes part of the story. It shows the shortfall was recognised and closed, and it dates the closure. If a later incident occurs on the same floor, the file shows a managed surface rather than a neglected one.
Preparing before any claim exists
The best position is the boring one: a routine of a national testing program, a register of results, shortfalls acted on and retested, all filed with the site's other compliance documents. Insurers increasingly ask for this at renewal, and an occupier who can produce it usually finds the conversation short.
Sliptest reports are prepared for factual use. We describe what was measured and how it compares with published recommendations. We do not offer legal opinions, and where a claim is on foot your insurer and solicitor should direct how the testing is used.