Using CPD to floor the competition

Health and safety doesn't usually feature high on people's lists of favourite topics, but feedback from RIBA members suggests that it's an area where there's huge demand for CPD. We use specifying floors as a case study.

Chartered members of the RIBA are required to do at least 35 hours of CPD each year, of which 19½ hours should cover subjects prescribed by the RIBA's core curriculum, and at least two hours should focus on health and safety.

Why is this significant? Because while manufacturers and suppliers are accustomed to emphasising the safety-related features of their products, surprisingly few recognise them as potential selling points. Health and safety is simply not deemed 'sexy'. Yet by ignoring this important area they may actually end up frustrating specifier clients and potentially putting end-users at risk.

Statistics published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) show that one serious workplace slip accident occurs every three minutes in the UK, at a cost to industry of over £500m each year. That's the cost to industry. The cost to the NHS is more, while the price paid by any of the individuals concerned might be life-changing.

For new build and refurbishment projects, clients and designers have a duty under the CDM Regulations (The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007) to consider the intended use of buildings, including floors. Installed flooring has to have sufficient slip resistance to enable the client to comply with these statutory duties. Manufacturers and suppliers of flooring should therefore take reasonable steps to ensure that pedestrians are not exposed to risks resulting from their products' slip characteristics.

The information suppliers provide to specifiers is crucial in ensuring that their product is suitable for its intended purpose. In the case of flooring, if it's marketed as 'slip-resistant' or 'safety' flooring the manufacturer should provide information to support those claims. Always have accurate test data to justify the validity of your product, and be able to present it clearly to specifiers in a way that is easily understood. Remember, specifiers want this information.

Manufacturers should provide guidance on the types of environment for which their product has been designed. In the case of slip-resistant flooring, this should include an indication of the stability of the slip resistance, i.e. how it changes over time. This is often affected by installation, degradation, wear, maintenance and use.

Installation instructions are therefore just as important. Where appropriate, advice should be supplied regarding cleaning and upkeep. If a floor requires a particular maintenance regime in order to retain its surface properties, such as reapplication of a sealant finish, the supplier should provide details of the correct procedure.

This type of information, though occasionally almost mundane, is often vital in the specifier's quest to comply with health and safety and other legal requirements. This presents marketers with two real opportunities. Casting oneself in the role of 'educator' or 'specialist advisor' helps build trust while providing a genuinely useful service to the specifier. Health and safety information, particularly if presented say, in the form of a CPD presentation available online, is a potentially powerful hook with which to generate more general interest in your product. Two excellent examples of how this has been successfully put into practice are provided by Polyflor and Swedecor.

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