Could a bathroom towel make you slip? Health and Safety investigates - at vast expense

It is not a problem that springs readily to mind - unless perhaps you are about to step, dripping wet, out of the bath.

Even then, the question of whether or not to put a towel on the floor would be a fleeting one at best. Especially if you have already invested in a bath mat.

But researchers investigating The Role of Towels As A Control to Reduce Slip Potential are wringing out every drop of information on the topic.

They have spent close to a month and £12,000 of taxpayers' money trying to find out whether a towel on a bathroom floor makes one less likely to slip.



The study, carried out for the Health and Safety Executive, involved researchers squeezing varying amounts of water on a variety of different floor surfaces.

The results? Unfortunately they didn't manage to come up with any.

Kevin Hallas, who is leading the investigation, explained the research had been "complicated".

"We expected the investigation to be more straightforward than it was. We need to do more work," he said.