Manufacturing industries, including foundries, face significant workplace safety challenges in the UK. According to the Health and Safety Executive, the manufacturing sector recorded 46,000 non-fatal workplace injuries on average between 2020/21 and 2022/23. In 2024/25, an estimated 40.1 million working days were lost due to work-related illness and workplace injury across all UK industries. The total economic cost of workplace injuries in the UK stands at approximately £22.9 billion annually through worker compensation, lost production, medical costs, and related expenses.
Slips and falls are the primary causes of accidents in metal finishing facilities. So, what exactly causes so many injuries? While metal and wood products are conventionally used, they add unnecessary risk to metal and mining facilities. Have you ever noticed that the walking surfaces in these facilities, at times, are rusted, slippery, and possibly even corroded? This is because the chemicals used in metal and mining plants are highly corrosive, taking a large toll on wood, metal, and concrete surfaces.
Metal walking surfaces can rust to the point of failure without any notice – an extremely dangerous scenario in an already high-risk industry. While this is the worst-case scenario, even less dramatic changes in walking surfaces made with wood, metal, and/or concrete can also be dangerous. The day-to-day wear from traffic, in addition to the corrosive environment, can make walkways slippery. Slip-resistant coatings can be applied, but will eventually wear away.
In order to design the safest, most reliable facility for your workers, you need to explore alternative building material solutions for walking surfaces. Glass Reinforced Plastic (GRP) products have been growing in popularity in the metal and mining industry. GRP manufactured by Fibergrate is extremely corrosion resistant; in fact, Fibergrate GRP grating has even been used to create a basket that is submerged to retrieve parts from chemical dipping tanks.
The slip-resistant surfaces of Fibergrate® Composite Structures' grating and stair solutions are extremely reliable in any industry. Slip-resistant coatings and tapes wear away, but Fibergrate grating, stair treads, and plates can maintain their slip resistance. This reduces the number of accidents and cuts downtime caused by maintenance. Fibergrate GRP walking surfaces do not wear like slip-resistant paints or tapes, cutting accidents and downtime caused by maintenance.
In addition, the slight resiliency in the GRP grating allows for a more comfortable workstation. The ergonomic design can reduce the number of long-term, overuse injuries workers develop from standing for long periods of time.
Several other benefits of GRP make it a favourable material choice for the metal and mining industries, as well as various other markets. Make sure to explore them today!