Safety Assessments of Ablution Floors in Mosques: : Measurements of slip resistance performance and surface features

Designing mosques and Muslim praying facilities is a challenging task. Amongst the defies encountered, slip and fall hazards on wetted surfaces of ablution areas in mosques seem to be a substantial safety concern 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 frequently encountered to slippery conditions. Unfortunately, however, there are no specific studies found on the fall incidents from the ablution areas in mosques. This study investigates the current safety status of ablution floors and measures slip resistance performance with surface features of the floors in mosques at Dubai and Sharjah cities of the UAE. Findings from this study may apply to design enhancements and developments of safer flooring conditions and products for the prevention of fall incidents from ablution spaces in the mosques.