In various public places, it is essential to install tactile indicators as this can help the visually impaired people to navigate while crossing the roads or boarding trains, buses, etc.
Olejar is a company that is engaged in making different kinds of tactile markers that can be installed in public places for the public benefit.
Types of available tactile indicators
You can find tactile indicators of two different types:
- Directional tactile
- Warning tactile
Generally, they are made of plastic, stainless steel, or ceramic finishes. Basically, they act as a certain discrete guidance system. These products also come in individual or certain mat form varieties.
Directional tactile
Directional tactile can be used for guiding visually impaired persons through a certain safe path. Usually, these directional pointers will be installed in the form of long rectangular strips on the surface of the floor. This kind of directional tactile is regularly used in various public transport areas as well as for street crossings.
Warning tactile
Warning tactile can alert any visually impaired person to any hazard or obstacle that stands in the way. Steps, stairs, escalators, ramps, wharves, and railways use such warning tactile for protecting the visually impaired people from dangerous obstacles.
Make the right choice
Because there are so many different Tactile Ground Surface Indicator devices available on the market, it is vital to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each before you make your final decision.
Civil contractors
While dealing with such tactile ground surface indicators, civil contractors, councils, maintenance, and facility managers confront the following issues:
- Colour Fading
- Cracking
- Lifting
- Peeling
- Poor warranty support
- Poor Slip Rating
Bad design, poor product components, a lack of proper product testing/development, and inexpensive knockoff items are all causes of these problems.
This means the products will have to be updated more regularly, which will cost asset owners and taxpayers a lot of money. When Tactile Ground Surface Indicators fail, it has a detrimental impact on the product’s intended end-users, including persons with vision impairment.
Installation time and labour costs
Also, it is very important to take into consideration the time needed for installation as well as the cost needed for labour charges too. There are a few TGSI (Tactile Ground Surface Indicator) products that need a very special kind of machinery and tooling to be suitably installed, which can be quite time-consuming and also very slow.
There are a few surfaces applied tiles that can be designed to be quite fast and also easy to install by utilising both adhesive as well as fixings for a certain secure bond between the substrate and the tile.
The tile can always be installed onto any kind of stable surface, which is now easily available in a size of 1200x600mm as a warning tile so that it is possible to increase speed and efficiency.
Besides that, there are a few other companies that also offer certain tactile indicators which are known as a cast-in-place type of tactile indicator product that can easily be installed just within minutes while the concrete finishing work will continue.