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Could a bathroom towel make you slip? Health and Safety investigates - at vast expense
Last updated at 00:07am on 04.08.07
Researchers have spent £12,000 on establishing whether a towel on a bathroom floor makes one less likely to slip
It is not a problem that springs readily to mind - unless perhaps you are about to step, dripping wet, out of the bath.
Even then, the question of whether or not to put a towel on the floor would be a fleeting one at best. Especially if you have already invested in a bath mat.
But researchers investigating The Role of Towels As A Control to Reduce Slip Potential are wringing out every drop of information on the topic.
They have spent close to a month and £12,000 of taxpayers' money trying to find out whether a towel on a bathroom floor makes one less likely to slip.
The study, carried out for the Health and Safety Executive, involved researchers squeezing varying amounts of water on a variety of different floor surfaces.
The team, based at the Health and Safety Laboratory in Buxton, Derbyshire, bought a set of identical towels from a local supermarket.
They splashed rough tiles and smooth tiles and worn vinyl and new vinyl with varying amounts of water.
Then, using a machine-operated pendulum, they measured the friction produced from a towel rubbing against the surfaces.
The results? Unfortunately they didn't manage to come up with any.
But give them another year, say, and another £12,000 and they might be on to something.
"Unfortunately the testing carried out here is insufficient to draw significant conclusions," their report admitted.
Kevin Hallas, who is leading the investigation, explained the research had been "complicated".
"We expected the investigation to be more straightforward than it was. We need to do more work," he said.
The Health and Safety Executive, which advises the Government on safety at work, is funded by the Department for Work and Pensions.
It has worked on several accident investigations involving slips in bathrooms in hotels and hospitals. More than 50,000 people visit hospitals each year as a result of falling over in a bathroom.
