A Pilot Study on Ablution Space Safety in Mosques : Slip-resistance assessments of ablution floorings from a viewpoint of fall incidents

Because Muslims regularly exercise their religious duties, prayers always need special areas, ablution spaces, in the mosques. However, ablution spaces are much more inspiring in their designs because they require specific functions that many designers may not be familiar with. Amongst the challenges faced, fall risks on the saturated surfaces of ablution areas in the mosques seem to be a considerable safety fear to the Muslim prayers. Because large volumes of waters and/or soapsuds are frequently spilt on the tiled floors and/or floor coverings from prayers' body washing exercises, the floorings of ablution spaces are often confronted to slippery conditions. Unfortunately, however, there are no specific studies found on the fall incidents from ablution spaces in the mosques. This pilot study investigates the safety status of ablution floors and measures slip resistance performance from randomly selected nine mosques at the cities of Dubai and Sharjah in the UAE. Findings from this study identifies that the current ablution floorings from the participated mosques are not safe for the prayer, especially in the lubricated environments: wet and soapy conditions. Thus, this study suggests that ablution floors should be thoroughly investigated by observing their slip-resistance properties and surface texture. This seems to be the first step to create safer and healthier environments for the ablution spaces and eventually for the Muslim prayers.