Fall-Injury Prevention Flooring for Hospitals
Inpatient falls are among the most common safety incidents in hospitals — and falls resulting in fracture are a designated hospital-acquired complication. Kradal Smart Foam is an impact-absorbing floor installed beneath clinical vinyl: firm and stable under beds, trolleys, and clinical traffic, yet engineered to absorb the impact of a fall. Patient safety built into the floor, with no compromise on infection control or durability.
Inpatient falls are a clinical and financial priority
Falls don't only happen at home. In Australian hospitals, more than 34,000 separations a year involve a patient treated for an injury from a fall that occurred in hospital — and patients aged 85 and over fall at a rate of 13 per 1,000 separations. Falls resulting in fracture or intracranial injury are one of sixteen high-priority hospital-acquired complications monitored by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, with direct implications for funding, accreditation, and clinical-governance reporting.
The cost of a single event is significant: a fall resulting in fracture carries the highest additional cost of any hospital-acquired complication — around $17,000 AUD per case — alongside extended length of stay and avoidable patient harm. Most fall-prevention strategies target behaviour and staffing. The floor itself is the one factor present in every fall, and the one most often overlooked.
Support for Clinical staff
Nurses and clinical staff spend entire shifts on their feet. Independent ergonomic research (Jacaranda Flame Consulting / University of Sydney, 2025) found Kradal's cushioned surface reduces lower-limb fatigue for staff standing and walking on it through long shifts — a workplace health and safety benefit that supports retention.
A passive layer of protection beneath the floor you specify
Kradal Smart Foam is an impact-absorbing underlay installed beneath standard clinical sheet vinyl. It works automatically, the moment it's installed — no staffing, no patient compliance, no devices. When a fall occurs, the foam deforms to absorb and distribute the impact, reducing injury severity, then returns to shape. Because it sits beneath the vinyl, the visible floor is unchanged: the same surface, the same cleaning protocol, the same clinical appearance.
Firm under traffic, soft on impact
The most common question from estates and facilities teams is whether a cushioned floor can handle a clinical environment. Kradal is specifically engineered for exactly this: a firm, dimensionally stable surface underfoot and under wheels — suitable for walking, standing, wheelchairs, trolleys, and bed movement — that absorbs energy only under the high force of a fall. The Smart Foam core is a proprietary closed-cell polyurethane, not a soft mat. Staff push trolleys and reposition beds across it without instability, while a falling patient meets a surface that yields to protect them.
Built for infection control
In a clinical setting, hygiene is non-negotiable. The Kradal system is a fully bonded, continuous assembly: an impervious, heat-welded vinyl wear surface over a closed-cell polyurethane core, glued throughout to the substrate. There are no voids or channels beneath the floor for water or contaminants to track, the floor cannot lift or harbour trapped moisture, and seams can be welded and coved to wall junctions for a sealed, easily cleaned finish. The system is antimicrobial, waterproof, chemically resistant, and suitable for wet areas including ensuites and assisted bathrooms.
Scientifically proven injury reduction
Kradal's performance is supported by independent, peer-reviewed research: a 30-month randomised controlled trial in a clinical care setting, published in Injury Prevention (BMJ Publishing Group), recorded an injury rate of approximately 30% on standard flooring versus approximately 17% on Kradal. After adjusting for covariates including bone density, Kradal achieved approximately 60% injury reduction. A separate cost-effectiveness model in the European Journal of Public Health (Oxford University Press) found the system reduces costs and increases quality-adjusted life years — a dominant strategy at the societal level.
Gustavsson et al. (2018), Injury Prevention, BMJ · Ryen & Svensson (2016), EJPH, Oxford