According to the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, slips, trips and falls are the most common cause of accidents in the hospitality sector, especially in the kitchen [1] [2]. Slips are mainly caused by surfaces made slippery with water, food waste or oil.
Taking care of all your needs in demanding commercial kitchens
We were the first company to innovate a complete system of compatible hygienic wall cladding and resilient floor. As the system is fully integrated, it fits together perfectly to provide a hygienic, watertight solution. No gaps or rough edges, just a smooth, uninterrupted surface – even around plug sockets, light switches and corners.
The system offers the best possible protection against bacteria, bugs and vermin. Altro’s integrated floor and hygienic wall cladding system makes cleaning easier too.
We have specifically designed our integrated system to address the issues commonly found in kitchens – slips, contamination, cleaning and maintenance. Our system doesn’t just protect the people who use it; it also protects the environment and those responsible for the health and safety of employees and visitors.
But safety is not our only consideration. Altro Whiterock and Altro Stronghold 30 work together to give you a varied and exciting colour palette. So from traditional to contemporary, you can go as bold as you dare.
We thoroughly test our products, exceeding industry standards for safety and hygiene safety and hygiene to ensure you have the best solution for your business.
What the law says
Under European Union directives, employers have responsibilities for the safety and health of their workers. Directive 89/391 provides the general framework for health and safety management, risk identification and prevention.
Altro Stronghold 30, our specialist kitchen safety flooring, has a Pendulum Test Value (PTV) of ≥55 / R12, meaning it goes that extra mile and is proven to provide the highest level of safety and slip resistance.
What causes you to slip?
Contaminants (water, oil, flour) create a film between the floor and your shoe or foot.
A film as thin as 1/10th thickness of human hair can be enough to prevent complete contact between shoe and floor, causing an accident. The shape of the aggregate in Altro Stronghold 30 protrudes through the surface of the floor, creating a grip on the sole of the shoe and preventing an accident.
Oil, grease, flour? We've got you covered
Testing and contaminants
Food and drink preparation and cooking areas can spell danger. Grease, fat, cooking oil, flour, milk, food particles and the occasional chopped carrot – all can end up on floors and walls. Altro’s sustainable, integrated safety flooring and hygienic wall cladding system provides long-lasting safe and hygienic surfaces for wet, dusty and greasy conditions.
Real world tests for real world conditions
The standard pendulum test for shod slip resistance uses water. Test results are rated with a PTV reading; a reading of PTV≥36 represents a one in a million chance of slipping on a wet surface. A wet surface only covered in clean water, that is.
Water only represents a small proportion of the hazards a kitchen worker would encounter on a daily basis. So we decided to put our flooring to a real world test: using a variety of different contaminants found in a commercial kitchen.
The reality is kitchen workers are busy. Oil evaporates into the air and settles on the floor when it cools – requiring constant cleaning to prevent a slippery surface. Small spills like milk or flour could cause a very real slip hazard.
A busy lunch hour would mean a lot of oil and cooking ingredients on the floor, and not enough time to keep the floor as clean and hazard-free as you would ideally like.
What do you need and why?
Tests prove different contaminants pose different challenges. Whilst the risk from vegetable oil may come as no surprise, the other most significant danger comes from greasy water – and what kitchen can avoid that?
Typical contaminants in a kitchen are not water and motor oil, which is what the PTV and Ramp tests use. The test we used was the standard PTV pendulum test BS7976, but instead of using only water as the test contaminant, we used a range of other contaminants found in a typical kitchen.
The chance of slipping when
Altro Stronghold 30 is on the floor is reduced to less than 1 in a million with common commercial kitchen contaminants
This graph shows test results carried out on Altro Stronghold 30 with common kitchen contaminants, including:
- cooking oils
- greasy water from washing up
- milk, flour, plastic wrap
For more information see our
commercial kitchens brochure
Keep it clean
Keeping people safe isn’t just about slip resistance and cleaning. It’s about preventing surfaces from harbouring bacteria.
Our integrated hygienic wall cladding and floors system is tankable. It has impermeable surfaces, which are easy to keep clean. With regular cleaning and maintenance using traditional solutions, Altro floors and walls do not allow bacteria to hide and grow.
It’s so tough, you can power wash all surfaces if you want to and not cause surface damage that can lead to bacterial growth.
So when you have a clean kitchen, you have a safe and hygienic kitchen.
Altro integrated solutions: nowhere for bacteria to hide.
The beauty of design
We have designed a fully integrated system to make cleaning and maintenance easier for you. Surfaces are watertight and fully sealed around fixtures and fittings, with the sort of detailing that bacteria and micro-organisms just hate: helping maintain the strictest levels of hygiene.
It also makes your surfaces easy to keep clean, making it a pleasant environment for your staff and which looks good at inspections. It means you will enjoy the long-lasting hygiene performance of our products.
Altro products are non-porous and non-shedding, so nothing can get in or out. And because they have high impact resistance, damage that can trap bacteria is unlikely.
Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP)
HACCP is an international system for food safety management. It is a legal requirement in Europe under EC Regulation 852/2004. HACCP requires a risk assessment for every food preparation area identifying “critical points” where food safety hazards could arise. Hazards include:
- contamination by staff or poorly maintained fittings or equipment
- chemical, physical or allergenic risks, caused by ingredients, handling, equipment or fittings, including floors and walls. You can reduce hazard risk and keep inspections to a minimum by selecting Altro floors for kitchens and hygienic environments and hygienic wall cladding, which are all approved by HACCP International.
"Altro products are one of the few worldwide flooring and walling products to have achieved HACCP International certification for non-food services and supplies, which means that they have been assessed by a third party and found to be satisfactory and hygienic for use in a food environment. Both the flooring and walling products from Altro offer the seamless and impervious solution which means that there is nowhere for bacteria to hide, as well as being easy to clean, both important issues in the food industry."
Richard Mallett
EUROPEAN DIRECTOR OF HACCP INTERNATIONAL
The dirt on tiles
We’re confident we’ve taken care of all your needs in demanding commercial kitchens
Walls and surfaces must be kept clean and hygienic to ensure the safety of your customers and workers. Tiles can look great but there is more to hygiene than meets the eye. Tiles and grouting are porous, making them more susceptible to harbouring bacteria. They also chip and crack more easily, allowing dirt and bacteria to collect and hide from cleaners. Grout lines are particularly vulnerable and even epoxy grout is susceptible.
The Altro Whiterock wall cladding system has an extremely high impact resistance according to BS EN438-2-1991 Steel Ball Test (see image). Impacts that would leave ceramic faces vulnerable to water ingress barely leave a scratch on this tough surface. The same is true for the cladding’s thermoformed corners – an area where ceramic tiles are particularly vulnerable. Altro Whiterock also has an excellent Fire Rating: Altro Whiterock White and Altro Whiterock Satins have been assessed to EN13501-1 and obtain a Euro-classification of -s3-d0.
Altro: the modern alternative to tiles
With the range of colour from Altro Whiterock White and Altro Whiterock Satins, you can have the colour range choices that tiles provide, without the worry of contamination. As a result, businesses can enjoy reduced long-term maintenance costs, with a significantly reduced risk of contamination or, should the worst happen – an incidence of food poisoning occur – possible litigation or even closure. All this makes it perfect for use in any catering area.
For all catering environments, the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work suggests conducting a risk assessment. Visit www.osha.europa.eu for more information.
Did you know?
Campylobacter is the most common cause of food poisoning in the UK. You can’t see it, smell it or even taste it on food. (Food Standards Agency)
Food safety management
Don’t get caught out; protect your environment
The EU food safety guidelines that kitchens or industrial catering areas must adhere to include:
- every food business operation must ensure food safety is never compromised. The layout, design and construction of food premises must prevent the accumulation of dirt and the shedding of particles. Also, the formation of condensation or undesirable mould on surfaces must be prevented
- all floors, walkways and stairs must be safe for employees or clients
- floors, walls, ceilings, windows and doors must have impervious, non-absorbent and washable surfaces. All surfaces should be maintained in a sound condition, and therefore be easy to clean and disinfect. This will require all surfaces to be smooth, washable, corrosion resistant and made from non-toxic materials
Solution
- one way of being sure protection is there, and that responsibilities are being taken care of, is to fit Altro floors and hygienic wall cladding
- Altro resilient floors for kitchens and hygienic environments and hygienic wall cladding are HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) compliant, providing peace of mind with the risk assessments of environmental safety
Your safe kitchen solution
You may see safety and hygiene as paramount in the main kitchen – but there are hazards throughout the back of house too. From the time a kitchen assistant walks through the ‘goods in’ with the food delivery, until they leave at the end of their shift, they are walking throughout the kitchen and coming into contact with contaminants and slip hazards. No area is safe. So the best way to ensure hazards are avoided is to have the whole environment secure. Altro give you the security you need.
Technical expertise -
the genius is in the detailing
Big chunky details get broken easily. They’re also hard to clean. Some wall cladding joint strips and wall / floor transition strips frequently have really horrible grease behind them when taken off the wall during refurbishment, hiding not only contaminants but bacteria as well. By welding or using Altro Whiterock FlexiJoint, joints can be completely sealed and impervious to contaminants, including bacteria, water, oil and grease.
Corners suffer a lot of pounding. For these areas we recommend the butterfly weld, which is more robust if knocked. It is our preferred method for demanding areas, including kitchens.
Get into the groove…
A hygienic wall or floor on its own is not enough; the transition between the two must also be sanitary to create a hygienic envelope from floor to ceiling. Transitions must also be watertight and seamless. A very sanitary way to join materials is to use a heat weld.
The process of heat welding presses the molten weld rod (usually made out of plastic) into the grooves of the material fusing the material together. This creates a water tight joint and prevents moisture ingress.
To create an impervious environment, we recommend you cove the flooring to join with the wall covering and heat weld the transition between the two. By creating a seamless, watertight environment from the floor to the ceiling, you can help minimise the areas in which bacteria will grow and where moisture can get trapped and cause damage to the substrate.
Drains and gulleys
Using appropriate drain and cove details, Altro Stronghold 30 helps function as a water-proof membrane against leaks to spaces below.
Using clamping style drains allows water and spills to feed directly into drains without puddling, improving hygiene and making cleaning quicker and more sanitary.
Altro Stronghold 30 can be used with a wide range of both clampable and welded drain systems and access hatches. In so doing, you can minimise trip hazards in a busy kitchen environment and allow the easy removal and opening of hatches without damaging the floor.
Altro cleaning guides
For all our latest tips on safety floor cleaning click here
Testimonials
"Altro's products have helped create a welcoming environment in the kitchen areas which has been well received by staff and students. As well as looking good, the walling and flooring products have lived up to their reputation of being easy to maintain. In a busy college kitchen it can be a dangerous working environment, so slip resistance is another important benefit of the new flooring to help us to avoid accidents."
Ian Reinhardt
Catering Manager Trinity College, University of Cambridge
"Altro Stronghold 30 is beyond comparison; on one hand it offers slip resistance for our workers, helping keep them safe, and on the other, it allows us to clean and maintain the flooring in our installations perfectly. With regard to compliance with safety regulations, we know that in having Altro Stronghold 30, our flooring always exceeds the standard set. Additionally, because it’s so easy to install, it took just one day and we were able to continue with the rest of the project; we would recommend it without hesitation."
Franco Giuseppe Zirotti
External Architect Consultant, KFC, Malaga, Spain
"We could have chosen to combine the wall solution with a flooring product from another manufacturer, but we chose the system from Altro, as Altro Stronghold and Altro Whiterock used together gives us a fully integrated solution, which enables easy cleaning and provides good hygiene. KITCHENS-EI-V01"
Victor Olsson
Project Manager, Väckelsång School, Sweden
"The Altro floors and walls in the kitchen can be cleaned with jet washers, which ensure impeccable hygiene while simultaneously saving time on cleaning. Our other priority is safety, and the slip-resistant properties of Altro flooring respond perfectly to our demands. In addition, with a certified installer, the installation is extremely quick: the restaurant kitchen at Issy les Moulineaux was completed in one week."
Adrien Garcia
Pret a Manger Operations Support Manager Pret a Manger, France