With more than 45 years of experience in the fire apparatus industry, Alan Saulsbury, currently head of Plastisol North America, discussed with attendees the past, present and future NFPA standards as well as basic rules of thumb for apparatus design.  One essential point was “Aluminum tread plate doesn’t last 20 years—spec aggressive tread. “  Many architects and engineers also recommended specifying a more aggressive tread for demanding environments such as fire safety.

Customers contact SLIPNOT^® Metal Safety Flooring often to inquire if SLIPNOT^® can coat traditional tread plate.  They contact SLIPNOT^® because of the problems occurring with the  uneven wear and low coefficient of friction of traditional tread plate.  SLIPNOT^® does not prefer to apply the unsurpassed slip resistant coating to diamond plate, but instead applies the non slip surface to smooth plate in order to provide the best shoe to surface ratio possible.  With diamond plate, the non slip surface is compromised due to the uneven surface. Smooth plate, in comparison to tread plate, will provide 100% surface coverage in all directions.

Smooth plate coated with a random hatch matrix is more suitable for applications in which carts, robots, mobile machinery or other mobile equipment must be able to travel as well.  Tread plate has a diamond raised pattern that can cause interruptions in traffic and cause the very trips that many companies are trying to prevent.  An example of failed tread plate is when the United States Post Office used SLIPNOT^® to replace tread plate in an automation room.  The automation room used robotic carriers in place of mail sorting machines and the robots needed to be able to move more smoothly over a trench.

For more ideas on retrofitting over existing slippery material or new construction, please visit our case studies page https://slipnot.com/case-studies/ .

“FireRescue Conference and Exposition Session Highlights” FireRescue Magazine.http://firerescue.lbumarketing.com/confsessionhighlights.html