HSE and UKSRG guidance.
What the regulator actually expects.

The HSE's regulatory position

Under section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, employers have a duty to provide a safe working environment. Under section 3, they have a duty to protect non-employees (customers, visitors) from risks arising from their operations. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 flesh these duties out into a requirement for a suitable and sufficient risk assessment.

For slip hazards, the HSE's position is that a suitable and sufficient risk assessment cannot rely solely on visual inspection — measured evidence of the floor's slip resistance is the expected standard of care for any commercial premises where slips are a realistic hazard.

The primary HSE and UKSRG documents

"Assessing the slip resistance of flooring" (GEIS2)

HSE's definitive public guidance document on slip resistance. It:

• Endorses the pendulum test as the primary method for measuring slip resistance
• Establishes the PTV thresholds of 24 and 36 as the risk-band boundaries
• Addresses dry vs wet testing
• Covers slider selection (Slider 96 for shod, Slider 55 for barefoot)
• Discusses surface micro-roughness (Rz) as a supplementary measure
• Provides gradient-adjusted thresholds for ramps and slopes

UKSRG Guidelines Issue 6 (January 2024)

The UK Slip Resistance Group is a consensus body that includes HSE, testing laboratories, materials specialists and manufacturers. Its Guidelines for the Assessment of Floor Slip Resistance are published in a numbered issue series. Issue 6 was released in January 2024 (with an April 2024 amendment to Table 3) and is aligned with BS EN 16165.

Issue 6 is the current UK practitioner benchmark. It includes:

• A new section on interpreting test results, with explicit guidance on borderline values
• Consideration of BS EN 16165 as the underpinning standard (replacing BS 7976-2, which aligned with UKSRG Issue 5)
• More prescriptive instructions for specific test scenarios (stairs, slopes, profiled surfaces)
• Verification procedures that must be performed before testing begins
• Slider hardness and wear tolerances

UKSRG guidelines are recognised by UK courts in slip injury claims in England, Scotland and Wales. A pendulum test report that references both BS EN 16165 Annex C and UKSRG Issue 6 is the current UK gold standard.

"Preventing slips and trips at work" (INDG225)

HSE's workplace-focused slip and trip prevention guidance. Aimed at employers and duty holders rather than technical specialists. Establishes the four elements of slip prevention — cleaning, contamination control, floor surfaces, environment — and references the importance of measured slip resistance evidence.

Sector-specific HSE publications

HSE has published sector-specific slip prevention material for kitchens, supermarkets, healthcare and industrial premises. Each reinforces the pendulum test as the primary measurement method.

What the HSE expects in an investigation

When the HSE investigates a slip-related serious injury or fatality, the inspectorate's typical evidence requests include:

• The slip risk assessment and the evidence underpinning it
• Measured PTV data for the location of the incident
• Cleaning and maintenance records for the surface
• Records of any surface treatments, re-finishing or product changes
• Manufacturer data on the floor specification
• Training records for employees operating the cleaning regime

In the absence of measured PTV data, the employer's risk assessment is materially weakened. In the presence of measured PTV data from a UKAS accredited laboratory working to BS EN 16165 and UKSRG Issue 6, the employer has the strongest evidential starting point.

Gradient-adjusted PTV targets

HSE and UKSRG guidance recognise that sloped surfaces require higher PTV than level surfaces. UKSRG Issue 6 calculates the slope adjustment as approximately 100 × tangent of the slope angle, which approximates to +1.75 PTV for each degree of slope. Approximate gradient-adjusted thresholds:

These are indicative values used in conjunction with full risk assessment — the actual target in a specific situation depends on who uses the surface and under what conditions.

The HSE and UKSRG position on non-pendulum methods

HSE guidance explicitly identifies the pendulum as the preferred method. Other test methods — the inclinable ramp (formerly DIN 51130 / 51097, now BS EN 16165 Annexes A and B), the Tortus/Brungraber/English XL, static coefficient of friction methods, and the SlipAlert — each have specific applications. The SlipAlert is recognised by HSE as a screening tool; UKSRG Issue 6 addresses its role. None, on their own, is sufficient as a UK workplace slip resistance assessment — the pendulum remains the evidential method.

The R rating trap

Tile manufacturers frequently publish R ratings (R9 to R13) on their datasheets. R ratings come from the German ramp test (formerly DIN 51130, now absorbed into BS EN 16165 Annex A). The HSE does not accept R rating on its own as evidence of workplace slip resistance, and UKSRG Issue 6 reiterates that there is no reliable correlation between R rating and PTV. A floor with an R10 rating can easily test below PTV 36 when wet. UK slip safety is assessed through PTV.

HSE, the courts, and civil liability

Criminal HSE prosecution and civil personal-injury litigation are separate legal tracks but they share a common evidential backbone. The same PTV evidence that supports an HSE defence also supports a civil claim response. A single UKAS accredited pendulum survey — referencing BS EN 16165 Annex C and UKSRG Issue 6 — is relevant to both.