Are Anti-Slip Coatings a Legal Requirement?
It’s a question that comes up fairly regularly, usually after a near miss or when someone’s reviewing their site risk assessments:
“Do we actually have to have anti-slip coatings, or is it just a nice to have?”
The answer isn’t a straightforward yes or no, which is probably why there’s so much confusion around it. There’s no single regulation that says “you must apply anti-slip coatings to this surface.” But that doesn’t mean you can ignore the issue, because several pieces of legislation place a clear duty on site operators to manage slip risk, and coatings are often the most practical way to do that.
What the law actually says.
The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 require that floors in workplaces are “suitable for the purpose for which they are used” and that they are kept free from substances that could cause slips. The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 places a general duty on employers to ensure the health and safety of employees and visitors, which includes managing the condition of walking surfaces.
For sites open to the public, the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 (and the 1984 Act for trespassers) means the occupier has a duty of care to ensure visitors are reasonably safe.
None of these laws specifically name anti-slip coatings. What they do is place responsibility on the site operator to identify slip hazards and take reasonable steps to control them. If a surface is slippery and an anti-slip coating would have been a reasonable measure, the absence of one becomes very difficult to defend after an incident.
Where slip risk tends to be underestimated.
Most people think of wet floors in kitchens or entrance lobbies when they think about slip risk. But on commercial and industrial sites, the problem areas are often less obvious.
External walkways, loading bays, car park ramps, warehouse mezzanine stairs, and painted surfaces that have become polished over time are all common problem spots. Metal surfaces, smooth concrete, and any area exposed to rain, oil, or cleaning chemicals can become significantly more slippery than they appear.
The trouble is that these areas often feel fine in dry conditions. It’s only when they get wet, contaminated, or worn that the risk shows up, and by then someone may have already gone over.
How slip resistance is measured.
There is a recognised way to assess whether a surface provides adequate grip. The UK Slip Resistance Group and HSE both reference pendulum testing (using the Pendulum Test Value, or PTV) as the standard method for measuring slip resistance.
A PTV of 36 or above is generally considered to provide a low slip potential. Below that, and the surface starts to present a higher risk, particularly in wet conditions.
If you’re unsure whether your surfaces meet acceptable levels, a pendulum test gives you a clear, objective answer rather than relying on guesswork.
What anti-slip coatings actually do.
Anti-slip coatings work by adding texture or aggregate to a surface, increasing grip underfoot and under tyres. They can be applied to concrete, metal, asphalt, tiles, and previously coated surfaces.
The type of coating depends on the environment. A pedestrian walkway in a retail park needs a different system to a forklift ramp in a warehouse or a fire escape staircase on the side of a building. The level of aggregate, the resin system, and the expected traffic all influence what’s appropriate.
Getting the specification right matters because an anti-slip coating that’s too aggressive can be difficult to clean and uncomfortable underfoot, while one that’s too mild won’t provide enough grip where it’s genuinely needed.
The cost of not acting.
Slip and trip injuries are consistently one of the most common causes of workplace injury in the UK. HSE data regularly places them at or near the top of non-fatal injury statistics.
Beyond the human cost, the financial impact of a slip injury claim can be significant, particularly on commercial sites where public liability is involved. And the reputational damage to a site operator who’s seen to have ignored a known risk is harder to quantify but very real.
In most cases, the cost of applying an anti-slip coating to a problem area is a fraction of what a single injury claim would cost, before you even consider the lost time, investigation, and increased insurance premiums that tend to follow.
When to consider anti-slip coatings.
It’s worth looking at anti-slip coatings if any of the following apply to your site:
- External walkways or ramps that get wet regularly
- Loading bays or service yards with smooth or polished concrete
- Painted or coated floors that have lost their original texture
- Mezzanine or staircase surfaces, particularly metal
- Car park ramps or pedestrian routes on slopes
- Any area where you’ve had a reported slip, trip, or near miss
Even if none of these have caused an incident yet, the legislation doesn’t require you to wait for someone to get hurt before you act. In fact, waiting is exactly what makes a claim harder to defend.
Conclusion.
So, are anti-slip coatings a legal requirement?
Not in the sense that there’s a specific law telling you to apply them. But the duty to manage slip risk is very clearly established in UK legislation, and anti-slip coatings are one of the most effective and straightforward ways to meet that duty.
If you’re not sure whether your site has areas that need attention, C&R Ltd can carry out a practical assessment and recommend the right approach based on how the site is actually used, not just what looks tidy on paper.
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