The National Floor Safety Institute was founded in 1997 as a not-for-profit 501 (c)(3) organization whose mission is to aid in the prevention of slips, trips-and-falls through education, research, and standards development. The NFSI is led by a fifteen-member Board of Directors representing product manufacturers, insurance underwriters, trade associations, and independent consultants.

In the marketplace, architects, designers, and specifiers are being educated to select products that are NFSI certified in high-risk areas. It is their assurance that the products have been clinically tested and meet the highest performance standards. This is just another indication that Mats Unlimited is leading the industry with the highest performing, most innovative, and now the safest mats available. The National Floor Safety Institute (NFSI) has certified the mats showing the NFSI logo as Slip Resistant. Before a product is certified as Slip Resistant, it is subjected to a rigorous series of tests.

NFSI product certification is intended to provide product manufacturers the means to have their products independently evaluated for wet slip resistance. The end result is to provide the end-user relevant information as to make a more informed buying decision. The NFSI has spent more than ten years researching various test methods by which walkway materials, coatings, chemical cleaning agents and treatments can be evaluated for their degree of slip resistance, which has resulted in the most comprehensive evaluation process. For a product to achieve NFSI certification status, it must pass both the laboratory phase of evaluation (Phase 1. Testing) as well as a field test (Phase 2. Testing). A description of each phase of testing follows:

PHASE 1 - LABORATORY TESTING: Products seeking NFSI certification are tested in accordance with either the NFSI 101-A (flooring material or coating) or NFSI 101-B (chemical cleaners or treatments) method and are tested using the BOT-3000. Each product is tested in its "as is " or "as applied" state (See submittal guidelines). Upon completion of laboratory testing, the applicant receives a written report as to the products SCOF results. If the product produces a wet SCOF value of 0.6 or greater (Minimum Acceptable Value) it will qualify for Phase 2 testing.

PHASE 2 - FIELD TESTING: In order for a product to qualify for phase two testing it must have first satisfactory completed Phase 1 testing. Upon receipt of the product(s) that have qualified for phase two (field) testing, an NFSI technician will install or apply the product in a real world application (Test Site) for a minimum of thirty days. The product will be maintained as specified by the manufacturer for the entire test period. After the minimum test period has expired, a member of the NFSI technical team will inspect and prepare the test site for testing in accordance with either the NFSI 101-A or NFSI 101-B standard. If the product meets or exceeds the minimum acceptable value it will become certified as "High Traction" by the NFSI.