How Do Walkway Auditors Conduct Audits?

Walkway audits are part of an overall floor safety plan that successful businesses have in place to ensure the safety and health of customers and employees. The secret to success is for a company to be proactive in setting up safety measures rather than reactive only after something bad has happened, like a slip and fall accident. Walkway audits are a key part of a proactive safety plan.

A trained, certified and experienced walkway auditor performs an independent assessment of the flooring in a business, factory, store or another commercial facility. During the audit, the walkway auditor will assess the potential risks for slip and fall accidents.

Here are some of the things that walkway auditors do when performing an audit:

• Physical checks are performed using equipment that tests the slip resistance of the flooring, the conditions of the flooring when wet and dry, the quality of lighting in each area, and levels of traction on the flooring surfaces.
• Visual checks take place when the auditor looks at the flooring to see if there are any unusual conditions, excessive wear patterns, low traction flooring surfaces, use of carpets and mats, condition of carpets and mats, and any other visual clues as to the flooring’s condition.
• Floor cleaning checks happen when the walkway auditor reviews the company’s process for taking care of messes and spills, what kind of equipment is used,  the quality of cleaning solutions, and the overall process of maintaining a slip-free flooring.
• Risk checks are done when the walkway auditor notes any unusual circumstances for the flooring that are present in certain areas of the business that may factor into a slip, trip or fall.

After the walkway auditor performs the inspection of the facility, they will take the next step of assigning categories of risk to different spots throughout the place. Then, all the information is collected into an audit report for the business owner. The business owners can then work toward improving the environment at work and minimizing risk from slips, trips and falls, thanks to the walkway audit.