WET, CERAMIC-TILED OUTDOOR SPACES - A DISASTER IN THE OFFING!

Two years ago today, I slipped and fell off the topmost of my wet front porch steps, and found myself flying into the air and crashing hard on the ground and, consequently, banging the back of my head on the topmost step. Then began a series of trips to the hospital, undergoing scans and tests, excruciating headaches and back pain, dizzy spells and tons of medication. Three months in all, I spent at home recuperating. Two years onwards I’m still learning to manage a visitor that doesn’t seem to want to go away - lower back pain.



Considering the fact that I banged the back of my head on the top of the step, I consider myself very lucky that I’m still alive and that I didn’t crack or break anything. When I got back on my feet from the fall, I rejoiced because I knew my time on earth wasn’t up yet; I still had lots of work to do. I’m thankful for the gift of life, for every ache I feel in my back and for the changes to my power of vision; it could’ve been so much worse!



I originally wrote this introduction to my article exactly a year ago today, on the 1st anniversary of my deliverance from a close brush with death. It's sad, but everything I said up there a year ago is still relevant today. Today, however, I'm not going to moan about my injury; instead, let's look at the cause of it - smooth ceramic tiles used on outdoor spaces and so can get wet from rain.


I’ve noticed and with very grave concern too that many residences, shops and even office complexes have been tiling their parking lots with ceramic tiles. This is very, very dangerous! Maybe people do not realise the danger this poses to human life and property. I should know...I’m a victim of wet ceramic tiles in an outdoor area.


Each time I enter the Manet Court compound at Airport, which houses two very big and prestigious companies, I can’t help but worry that I’m entering a disaster-zone. The whole parking lot is tiled with smooth, ceramic-looking tiles that have no traction. The result is that even on a normal, dry day, the car tyres screech very loudly, as they struggle to grip the ground. This gets worse, naturally, when it rains. Imagine the number of cars that drive in and out of there on a daily basis! Or the number of heeled shoes that walk on this floor every day! The fact that an accident hasn’t happened there yet doesn’t mean that this area is safe with these tiles. Far from it - it’s actually a disaster waiting to happen!


Some cornershop fronts also have these smooth tiles, broken up and mixed with cement on their floors. While the cement breaks the continuity of the slippery tiles, these floors and steps are still very slippery and dangerous, especially when wet. Wet, slippery tiled floors are very dangerous to walk on, which's why in restaurants and shops, a warning sign is placed on the floors when they are wet.


I wonder, is the aesthetic value of these tiled parking lot floors worth the pain and injury they could inflict on people who slip on them? Whatever happened to those cement design blocks that we’ve been paving our parking lots with?


Safety first, people!!! Safety first!!!