How Floor Tape can Improve the Safety and Visual Management of your Facility

Many businesses, public facilities and parking areas need floor or pavement markings to delineate areas, mark key features and avoid traffic mishaps. Aisle numbers, safety stations, exits and other features must be clearly marked, a job once done with paint.

Paint works well when it is new, but it wears thin over time. Furthermore, if the markings need to be changed, the floor sometimes must be entirely repainted, even if the rest of it looks fine. Clearly, a better option is needed, and that better option is floor tape.

However, not all floor tapes are created equal. Good floor tapes (like this floor tape product) usually share some highly desired characteristics such as bright, highly visible colors and resistance to both foot and auto traffic. High quality floor tape is truly unique in design and naturally provides a greater durability when compared to other floor tapes.

Old-style floor tape had a hard, 90-degree edge that would catch feet, wheels or casters. When walking or rolling things over it, there was always an annoying, bumpy feeling caused by catching the edge of the tape. This resulted in accelerated wear on wheeled devices and made walking over these areas difficult and tiring. If your toe caught the edge of the tape, you could possibly even trip or drop what you were carrying. The edges of the tape tended to turn up and crack, requiring frequent attention and replacement.

The utilization of beveled edges has eliminated such trip and fall hazards. Without those blunt, sharp edges the tape doesn’t catch feet, wheels or other moving things. The bumpy, shoe-scraping sensation of walking over an old-style tape edge is gone, and has been replaced by the smooth, easy movement provided by beveled edges.

Recessed adhesive

Another design flaw with old-style floor tape was that the adhesive on the back of the tape went all the way to the edge, creating a sticky line that could catch dust and trash. After much traffic, these edges would get dark and grimy from the accumulated dirt, and since it was imbedded in the adhesive, it was nearly impossible to remove.
Due to this design flaw, it is important to use a floor tape that has the adhesive recessed slightly from the edge. So when the tape is applied, its edge forms a non-sticky barrier insulating the adhesive from the outer environment and preventing dirt from accumulating. It is important to note that this design does not compromise the tape’s sticking power. The thickness of the adhesive of a quality tape is actually greater than that of other brands of tape.

A tough industrial floor tape will resist abrasion and be impervious to most industrial chemical exposures. It is also important to remember that a good industrial strength floor tape will be nearly ten times as thick as standard floor tape, feature a smooth easily-to-clean surface and will be available in a variety of eye catching colors.

With these advantages, the multiple uses of a good floor tape should not be overlooked. Examples of places where it might be used are schools, warehouses, factories, parking lots and sidewalks. Applications generally pertain to either safety, traffic management or both.

Safety

Adequate safety markings are essential in an emergency situation to direct people to exits, safety facilities and medical aid. In these instances, visibility may be poor and the people may be in a state of confusion and agitation. Vivid, unmistakable directions are needed and may be essential for saving lives. The most obvious and effective visible directions are markings on the floor directly in front of the viewer. This is one of the most important uses for floor marking tape.

Understanding that the lights may be out in such an instance, a rechargeable, glow-in-the-dark tape for marking exits and safety features is a great option to consider. In darkness, this tape glows a vivid green color that can be seen even through thick smoke. Floor directions to exits, door outlines and borders around fire alarm controls take only minutes to apply and may save lives.

Safety tape can also help fire and law enforcement personnel find the supplies and features they need as quickly as possible. Electrical panels, air ducts and maintenance passages should be marked as clearly as possible using universally recognizable tapes. A reputable floor tape business will most likely carry a complete line of 5S floor identification markers for designating power and plumbing facilities, fire equipment, storage closets and other important areas. These help to ensure that even if someone is completely unfamiliar with the building he or she can find these essential features.

Traffic management

Directing people effectively helps everybody. The lost person finds their destination, lines of traffic help people to avoid running into each other, and the entire operation runs more smoothly. Having good directions avoids time wasting, helps jobs get done quickly and contributes to good customer relations. Regarded in these terms, traffic management becomes one of the most important jobs for any business or public facility.

When walls get cluttered with signs, bulletin boards and other objects, people often fail to see the one they need. If the sign saying “Applicants This Way” is just one of dozens of signs, a lost person might miss it. However, if the same message is on the floor in front of them, they will invariably notice it. We may ignore the walls around us, but we all look where we step. This is why directions like “Restroom,” “Infirmary,” and so forth are noticed more often when placed on the floor. Given the importance of good traffic management in both every day and emergency situations, it only makes sense to use the best product for the job. There may be cheaper products out there, but it is truly worth the money to invest in a high quality, long lasting floor tape.

Better products will look better longer than paint or any other product for that matter. In addition, they will also present a clean, efficient look to your customers and staff, and they will help people get where they’re going more easily. Those who come into the building will remember it as the place that was easy to navigate, and where business could be conducted quickly and easily. New employees will learn their way around the place better, and visitors will not have to ask for directions over and over. The safety and visual management of traffic will improve and business will flow more smoothly.

If your looking for a high quality floor tape product that can withstand any environment, make sure you check out SafetyTac Floor Tape.

Additional Resources

• Types of Floor Marking– creativesafetysupply.com
• Research Complete: SafetyTac Aisle Marking Tape– aislemarking.com
• Types of Floor Marking Tape– floortape101.com
• Floor Marking in Warehouses and How to Get the Best Tapes– heavydutyfloortape.com
• Heavy Duty Floor Marking Tape– blog.creativesafetysupply.com
• Using Floor Tape for Facility Safety– facilityfloormarking.com
• Free Floor Tape from Creative Safety Supply– 5snews.com
• Implementing Floor Markings in your Facility– hiplogic.com
• Improving Safety with Floor Marking– realsafety.org