Bar Grate Flooring on Mezzanines in Industrial Applications

Mezzanine Grating

In industrial applications, bar grate mezzanines are ideal for additional storage, most commonly seen in warehouses, distribution facilities and manufacturing plants.  A mezzanine is a middle floor between main floors of a building, and not counted among the overall floors of a building.  Mezzanines main purpose is to turn dead space into usable space.  In most cases they are free standing structures that can be dismantled and relocated if needed.  When engineering a mezzanine, designers need to take in consideration the main purpose of the structure, the surrounding environment, what the structure will be holding and weight limitations and most importantly safety precautions for employees such as flooring, stairs, handrails, etc.

Stairs are used to access the individual floors; if heavy items are stored on the mezzanine a hi-low may access it for easy loading and unloading purposes.  Typically mezzanine floors are constructed of bar grating allowing airflow to move throughout the structure and building.  Fiberglass or aluminum is most commonly used on floor applications due to the light weight properties.  Since fiberglass is a raw material made up of extremely thin fibers of glass it is inexpensive and available in a variety of colors.  Not being able to easily or properly fabricate fiberglass in the field, becoming extremely slippery when wet and releasing toxic fumes if exposed to high heat are disadvantages.  Aluminum bar grate is a very light weight metal, corrosion resistant, 100 percent recyclable, non-toxic and releases no aroma.  Aluminum can be slippery in wet or oily conditions unless slip resistance is applied.

In order to help keep mezzanines safe in the workplace, floors and steps should have a slip resistant product applied for added safety.  There are many different products available that hold different coefficient of friction values such as epoxy coatings, metal on metal and more.  Applying a slip resistant paint or epoxy to fiberglass can help improve traction but is not a permanent solution.  After a while the paint will wear down and will have to be replaced.  A metal slip resistant product applied to a metal surface is mechanically bonded producing a long lasting solution for slip resistant.  By applying a molten metal to the surface the product is very durable, abrasive and slip resistant.

Latest from our Safety Blog

View All Safety Blogs

Let's get started

The SLIPNOT team is efficient, expert and focused on providing you with the
right safety solution. Please take a minute to complete this form to request a
quote or sample. One of our safety professionals will be in touch to help guide
you in making the right choice.