THE Tarkett Safetred brand is the mark of a quality heterogeneous commercial grade safety floor only ever made at the Lenham plant in Kent, says Tarkett.
Safetred has been manufactured in the UK for over 40 years, first branded as Marley, then Tarkett-Marley now simply Tarkett but always ‘Safetred’.
Says the company: ‘Safetred is the only true contract grade slip resistant flooring product available as a tile. Safetred Tiles require no welding and are installed using standard commercial adhesives. The added benefits of a safety tile are of course all about convenience. Tiles are easier to carry, to move around a site, to fit in an elevator, to repair after installation, and also offer an element of decorative flexibility. All our tiles, like their roll counterparts, are made to the highest standards to exceed the most stringent indoor air quality standards.
‘Tarkett vinyl products are phthalate-free, this fact should give peace of mind to all end-users and specifiers in the light of further research findings which have come to light recently on the potential impacts of phthalates on health and wellbeing. More stringent regulatory actions on the use of phthalates in manufacturing now seems more probable.’
Generally speaking, slips, trips, and falls is the top cause of injury in the workplace and equates for over 37m accidents worldwide, or 40% of all reported major injuries, according to the Health and Safety Executive.
Continues Tarkett: ‘Tarkett Safety flooring, with its increased co-efficient of friction can prevent accidents, ensure overall safety for indoor areas, and reduce risk – making it the perfect choice for all applications. The Safetred brand today is more extensive than ever before and now includes 17dB acoustic options as well as textile-backed sheet, tiles, all the requisite different slip ratings, transport approved rolls for busses etc, and much more attractive printed collections.’
The company says Tarkett Safetred offers sustainable slip resistance, ‘meaning its particle-enhanced slip-resistant properties will last the entire lifetime of the product and not just until the surface layer wears away. Unlike some similar products, though, the surface remains relatively easy to clean throughout its life.
‘Cleaning and maintenance is more vital than ever in our post pandemic ‘new normal’ and traditional safety flooring has always presented significant hygiene challenges owing to its very nature. Slip resistance is achieved through surface roughness and rough surfaces do not clean up easily. That’s why we introduced the AirForce technology to essentially blow a final top coating into every niche of the surface, ensuring the product is as fully sealed and resistant to the build-up of contaminants as possible.’
Tarkett adds: ‘Our latest Safetred Contrast, Linen, Naturals, and Wood collections all offer a contemporary twist on the more traditional safety flooring design and colour palette – meaning we can now achieve the ever-desirable domestic look to enhance any interior.
‘We shouldn’t talk about sustainable slip resistance without picking up the wider issue of sustainability – from an environmental perspective. Vinyl flooring hasn’t traditionally enjoyed the best reputation in this area, but at Tarkett we’re committed to the circular economy approach, which is key on the journey towards net zero.
‘For these products that means recycling. Safety floors have in the past been challenging to recycle, owing to the presence of non-PVC particulate in the construction, and so manufacturers have been left with little choice but to settle for ‘down-cycling’ of post installation flooring, repurposing the reclaimed material for different applications like production of traffic cones etc.’
Tarkett says it’s found a way to recycle much of our safety flooring now, reintroducing it into new production runs and starting to ‘close the loop’. ‘This is an initiative which we’re absolutely committed to developing further.’
www.tarkett.co.uk
