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Method & accreditation

The pendulum test, and the standards behind it

The pendulum is the HSE’s preferred method because it works in the wet conditions where slips actually happen.

A weighted arm swings a rubber slider across the floor to reproduce the moment a heel slips, and measures how much the floor holds it back — the Pendulum Test Value (PTV). We test wet as well as dry, with the correct slider for how the floor is used. Every word here is in the glossary if you’d like the plain-English version.

36 or above is the low-risk threshold — roughly a one-in-a-million chance of a slip.

The standards

• BS 7976-2 — operation of the pendulum tester.
• BS EN 16165 — the current standard for measuring surface slip resistance (it superseded BS EN 13036-4).
• UKSRG guidelines — how the results are interpreted in practice.