The Importance of Flooring in a Healthcare Facility – Gaurav Saraf, Jt Managing Director, Square Foot, India’s most trusted wooden flooring company

New Delhi, September 20, 2016: Healthcare is a critical industry and every aspect of a facility contributes towards playing a critical role in the well being, healing and overall patient experience. Flooring is one such aspect.

The numerous options in flooring for healthcare facilities continue to grow as technology allows for new advancements in manufacturing, installation and maintenance.

Like any flooring, healthcare flooring, needs to meet the basic criteria like durability and easy to maintain. Additionally, health-care flooring needs to support patient mobility – wheelchair movement, walking aids, roller mobility etc. and how it affects the patient care, indoor air quality and infection control.

Indoor air can be at times 2 to 5 times more polluted than outdoor air, contributing to the risk of developing asthma and allergies. Nurses and housekeeping staff are particularly affected by occupational asthma that is mostly present in medical settings due to the use of harmful chemicals contained in cleaning and disinfection products. To contribute to a benign setting, Square Foot’s flooring solutions have minimal impact on air quality: The lowest VOC emissions from 10 to 100 below the levels required by ISO 16000 standards

The practical applications of color, pattern, texture and light reflection are particularly important to creating interiors that have a positive influence on people. They help reduce stress and can better identify, unify or separate spaces. It’s even more important in an aged care unit, where interior design is key to improving Alzheimer patient comfort and safety. Also essential is the perception of a cleaner appearance thanks to stains and marks that are less visible, as well as easier orientation throughout the building.

In a healing environment, Noise can be an extremely negative environmental factor. : it increases patient pain perception and consequent use of medication, can cause sleep deprivation and patient confusion, and may increase the potential length of a hospital stay. With the help of select flooring types, noise levels can be kept at bay.

In healthcare, maintaining a clean—and in some cases sterile—environment is critical, as hospitals run 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. Floors in these spaces must be able to withstand and minimize daily attacks and stresses, especially to abrasion, scratches and stains, and to facilitate maintenance procedures.

In areas with a high risk of infection or controlled environments, flooring contributes to infection control and air cleanliness, preventing the spread of infection due to the environment.

While many hospitals today, also give thought to sustainable and green option in flooring. All building materials, including flooring, must meet specific norms to earn certification from one of the existing eco-building systems around the world.

Square Foot has an array of products that is suitable for the varying and demanding needs of a Healthcare facility – Floorings that control infection, Electrostatic flooring for operation theatres, or slip resistance floorings for rest rooms, to flooring that can with stand high traffic and abrasion for common areas.

Corporate Comm India(CCI Newswire)