The Situation:

Garlock Sealing Technologies was struggling with safety on their rolling stairs and platforms that are used around machinery throughout the manufacturing facility.  Powders, debris, dust and other slick substances were accumulating on the rolling stairs and platforms, making it unsafe for employees to utilize.

The Solution:

A manufacturing engineer from the fluid sealing technology company contacted SlipNOT® Metal Safety Flooring to find a non-slip retrofit solution for the existing rolling stairs and platforms.  Steel expanded metal Grid Grip® was chosen for the slip resistant retrofit solution because of the easy handling and low costs it offered.

The engineer did not want to completely replace the entire portable stairs and platforms, so five (5) pieces of 3/4 #9 flattened expanded metal Grid Grip® were custom fabricated with SlipNOT®^’ s all metal slip resistant steel coating applied to the top side of the metal grid.  The expanded metal grid was custom ordered formed with a 1-1/4” nosing to provide additional grip protection, ensuring safety for employees that utilize the portable stairs and platform.

The portable stairs and platforms are used daily to provide easy accessibility to all machines, whether for daily maintenance duties or for repairs.  The expanded metal Grid Grip®was ideal for this situation because of the lightweight properties and simple installation it provided.

The existing rolling stairs and platforms are continually exposed to slick additives such as dust, powders and oils, so the openness of the expanded metal Grid Grip®will allow for easy passage and prevent any build-ups of unsafe substances.

The Impact:

Garlock Sealing Technologies has been so impressed by the flattened expanded metal grid, additional rolling stairs and platforms will be addressed and retrofitted with the expanded metal Grid Grip®.  The metal Grid Grip®was the best solution because of the easy installation and easy maneuverability it presented as well as the instantaneous slip resistance it provided.

Download this case study as a PDF

The Situation:

Newmont Mining Corporation needed a quick and durable retrofit solution for their existing slippery metal grating stairs.  Slips, trips and falls frequently occurred on the metal grating stairs during the snowy winter weather and had proven to be unsafe.  The metal grating stairs were installed in front of their office buildings and employees were constantly struggling to keep their footing due to the slippery grating surface.  Newmont Mining Corporation was looking for a easy retrofit solution to place over the existing grating stairs.

The Solution:

A services/planning employee from Newmont Mining Corporation contacted SlipNOT® Metal Safety Flooring to work out the details about retrofitting options for the existing slippery grating treads.  A sales representative from SlipNOT® helped determine that galvanized steel flattened expanded metal was the best retrofit solution for the four sets of office stairs.

Newmont Mining Corporation ordered twelve (12) pieces of customized 3/4#9 flattened expanded metal retrofit stair treads.  The retrofit expanded metal treads were ordered in customized sizes of 11” x 44” and 11” x 36”.

The expanded metal retrofit stair treads were chosen for this application because of their easy installation and instant safety.  The expanded metal retrofit stair treads also provide easy passage of snow, light, air, water and moisture just as the original existing bar grating did for them in the past while providing a 100% slip resistant coating allowing for 100% shoe to surface contact.

SlipNOT® Metal Safety Flooring has a variety of slip resistant coating options for all metal substrates.  In this case, Grade 3 (Coarse) was chosen because of the extreme durability and coverage it presents.  Grade 3 (Coarse) is often used where there is high traffic and where areas are exposed to extremely slick conditions.  SlipNOT® cannot guarantee that the slip resistant surface applied to the expanded metal retrofit treads will completely eliminate the slippery factors created by snow and ice, but can increase foot to surface traction unlike the original surface option.

The Impact:

The galvanized steel retrofit expanded metal stair treads installed with ease and solved the slippery surfaces with minimal effort.  Not only did the SlipNOT® retrofit expanded metal treads provide instant safety once installed,  they were cost efficient and allowed for the existing grating treads to maintain in place without complete replacement or removal.

Download this case study as a PDF

The Situation:

ISP Fine Chemicals, Inc., a pharmaceutical preparations plant, was struggling with slippery substances building up on their existing stair treads and landings at their Columbus, OH location.  The current treads were not allowing for drainage and were prone to be very slippery due to wet conditions.

The Solution:

SlipNOT® Metal Safety Flooring was contacted to help find a solution that would allow for drainage and slip resistance at the same time.  A SlipNOT® sales representative suggested using either using galvanized perforated plate or expanded metal for their application, depending on how thick they wanted the product to be.  Both ISP Fine Chemicals and the SlipNOT® sales representative agreed on using galvanized expanded metal to cover the existing stair treads.  Galvanized expanded metal is not only lightweight and cost effective, but the open diamond pattern would permit air flow in addition to allowing water, snow and mud to pass through.  Galvanized steel expanded metal not only allows drainage of the slippery substances to drain through, but maintains its slip resistant properties, even if completely submerged.

ISP Fine Chemicals ordered (14) pieces of 11-1/2’’ x 29’’ galvanized expanded metal with two (2) bend downs 2’’ each per piece to cover the existing stair treads.   Three (3) additional pieces of various sizes were ordered to cover the landing area.  SlipNOT® custom cut these pieces to meet the job requirements of the project and then sent them to be galvanized; galvanizing helps prevent corrosion and provides rust resistance in environments, like outdoor applications, that come in contact with a wide array of elements and substances.  Once SlipNOT® received the galvanized expanded metal pieces from the galvanizer, the pieces were shipped to ISP Fine Chemicals to be tack welded over the existing treads and landings.

The Impact:

The galvanized expanded metal with SlipNOT®’s slip resistant coating applied is meeting and exceeding the expectations of ISP Fine Chemicals.  The stairs that used to be very slippery when coming in contact with elements and chemicals are now withstanding all slippery substances, thus providing ISP Fine Chemicals with a safe walking surface for their employees.