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.

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 non-slip industrial 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.

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.