08/04/2019

Sika Flooring, Technical Advisor Sam McNaughton looks at key questions to consider when specifying flooring for healthcare.

What are the main considerations in terms of infection control when it comes to specifying flooring for healthcare environments?

The main considerations are floors which are easy to clean and reduce the risk of germ or infection spread in hospitals and hygiene-critical environments.

This is best achieved with the specification of seamless flooring. Seams in flooring are areas where dirt can easily be picked up/stored and ultimately harvest bacteria and mould, etc.

This, in a hospital environment, is a big issue because as little as 10 bacteria cells can cause illness. Therefore, a seamless, easy-to-clean floor eliminates and helps to prevent such build-ups.   

What is your advice to specifiers on choosing the right flooring?

Choosing suitable flooring ultimately depends on the situation or project. Will the floor be exposed to mechanical movements? Are there any aesthetic requirements such as colour design or markings needed for walkways, what is the amount of foot traffic in a given area and do you need to think about slip resistance etc.

Having the correct type of flooring based on a client’s needs will not only provide customer satisfaction, it will ensure they have a functional surface that performs as designed.

Remaining unaware of the client’s requirements could lead to dissatisfaction, or in more serious cases, flooring failure.

How does flooring choice differ in terms of the specific area (waiting rooms, clinical spaces, operating theatres etc)?

Waiting rooms typically need a floor that is more comfortable underfoot as not all patients will be sitting; therefore, having a softer surface will prevent back strains and sore feet.

In terms of clinical spaces, flooring needs to be easy to clean in order to reduce the risk of germ or infection spread. This is best achieved with the specification of seamless flooring.

Operating theatres typically need to have a durable floor both in terms of chemical resistance and abrasion resistance. Some operations can take multiple hours to perform and therefore the comfort of the surgeons also needs to be taken into consideration.

What impact does flooring choice have on cleaning regimes (or do these impact on flooring choice rather than the other way around?)

The surface profile of a floor will impact on the type of cleaning regime. For example, a smooth floor will be far easier to clean - compared to a broadcast aggregated finish - as the dirt pick-up will be minimal in comparison. Therefore, it depends on the client’s requirements. If, for instance, they need a floor that conforms to the HSE slip resistance guidelines (SRV/PTV >36 in both wet and dry) they will have to balance that with the ease of cleaning.

Broadcast aggregated flooring systems use a range of different quartz grain sizes - the greater the quartz size, the more chance the floor will pick-up and retain dirt. This will make the surface harder to clean.