The floors of sanitary facilities must be resistant to chemicals (eg strong cleaners, food acids, etc.), mechanical (eg impacts, loading and unloading vehicles, etc.) and thermal stresses (eg kettles, refrigerators, freezers etc). Their construction requires the use of waterproof, non-absorbent, durable, non-slip materials, without cracks or holes (to prevent the growth of microorganisms). They should also facilitate cleaning and disinfection with proper inclinations towards the liquid waste pipettes. All surfaces must be smooth and the edges rounded (ease of cleaning and disinfection).
In refrigerators and freezers, the floor should be watertight, non-slip and resistant to mechanical and thermal stresses (resistance of materials to temperatures of -40 C). Proper initial design of the floors, slopes, drains, etc. also play an important role, so that there is no pool of liquids on their surface. A US study has found that there is an increased risk of Listeria growing in dairy farms where milk processing waste is stagnant. Inadequate floors also increase the chance of accidents, make it difficult for workers to move and workflow (increase the chance of cross-contamination due to rerouting, falls or loss of balance, etc.) and increase maintenance costs and time (long production interruptions) and cleaning. For this reason the klinker tiles of INTERBAU - BLINK, of appropriate specifications, correctly placed (prerequisite of functionality for all floors) are the ideal suitability for food production areas and result in a floor of great durability.
The surfaces of the tiles can be smooth, embossed or textured, ie non-slip and at the same time smooth enough for cleaning. The embossed surfaces with patterns of bumps (eg pyramids, triangles, etc.) of the tiles are not particularly recommended, due to the noticeable difficulty of cleaning and the retention of organic load. The ideal tiles would be smooth, but in practice, as we mentioned, the non-slip final surface is needed, consequently the choice is made depending on the danger of the space in terms of slipping.