Slips and falls are one of the most common causes of injuries in buildings, public spaces, and workplaces across the United States. Despite the enormous consequences of these incidents, the United States still lacks clear, widely accepted standards for measuring the slip resistance of floors.
The American Floor Safety Alliance (AFSA) was created to change that.
AFSA is an organization composed of professionals whose sole focus is the accurate measurement of floor slip resistance. Our mission is simple: to bring clarity, scientific rigor, and internationally recognized methods to the field of floor safety in the United States.
Independent Experts Focused on Safety
Unlike many groups operating in this space, AFSA members are not full-time expert witnesses and we do not sell flooring products. That independence matters.
Because we are not financially tied to litigation outcomes or product sales, our work is guided by a single objective: preventing slip and fall incidents by helping people understand the true slip resistance of their floors.
Our members specialize in testing floors and interpreting results so that building owners, architects, specifiers, and public officials can make informed decisions.
Why New Standards Are Needed
In the United States, the ASTM F13 committee is responsible for slip resistance standards. However, despite decades of discussion, that committee has not produced a widely accepted published test method for assessing the slip resistance of floors.
Meanwhile, much of the developed world has already established effective standards.
Countries including the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Israel, and many nations across Europe have adopted variations of a proven method known as the pendulum slip resistance test.
This method has been used for decades to evaluate the safety of walking surfaces in a consistent and scientifically repeatable way.
The American Floor Safety Alliance – To Stop Slips!
Bringing the United States Into Alignment with Global Standards
One of AFSA’s primary objectives is to bring the United States into alignment with internationally accepted practices.
To accomplish this, AFSA has developed and published standards that closely mirror the pendulum-based methods used throughout the developed world. By doing so, we aim to provide reliable and repeatable measurements of floor slip resistance, help architects and specifiers choose safer flooring materials, assist building owners in identifying and correcting hazardous surfaces, and support municipalities and regulators in establishing meaningful safety guidelines.
In short, our goal is to help ensure that the United States evaluates floor safety with the same level of scientific consistency already used internationally.
Our Mission
The American Floor Safety Alliance exists to publish clear, practical, and scientifically sound standards for floor slip resistance testing.
Our work is guided by a simple principle: people deserve to know the truth about the safety of the surfaces they walk on.
By providing accurate measurements and transparent standards, we aim to help prevent slips and falls before they occur.
Safer floors mean safer buildings, safer workplaces, and safer communities.
This is the mission of the American Floor Safety Alliance, and we are proud to begin this work
