Editorial | Issue 17

Editorial | Issue 17

The problem of the slippery slates on campus

This week, inside Critic, the very talented Joel MacManus has written a piece: ‘’Coming up short’’, outlining the ins and outs of donating your little swimmers in New Zealand… Which brought me think of our very own university. Not in a cumming up short sort of way, but in a coming up short sort of way... For a University that loves a high-vis vest and radical safety measures the University is coming up short when it comes to the slippery tiles around campus. 

For years I have been skating around the paved tiles looking like Chaz Michael-Michaels out of Blades of Glory, but surely the path to class isn’t intended to double up as a training ground for those heading to the Winter Olympics?

I know I’m taking the piss out of the situation a little bit, and that everyone else here in the office takes the piss out of me for bringing it up, but it’s a relatively serious matter. In 2013 a visitor to the university, Katherine Casey slipped on the tiled surface in the commerce building, cracking her spine and pelvis in three places and leaving her permanently disabled. Sadly, this isn't a one-off incident. As well as this incredibly serious case, there had been another 70 complaints prior in the commerce building itself. 

However, at least now we are finally starting to see some action on the commerce building after Casey won a $60,000 reparation following the incident. But that's just the commerce building. What about the rest of the campus that still preserve these slippery little slates?  

Thankfully, the University in all of their wisdom have decided to—instead of ripping up these slippery tiles—put down a couple of stickers to warn students that you’re about to walk on a path slipperier than a greased pig. Warning people is great and all, but if the tiles are slippery there's very little you can do to prevent yourself going head-over-biscuit. 

Before spending millions on construction around the University, does no one suggest that they should check to see whether the tiles are fit to walk on? Or did someone just send the apprentice on the Placemakers run, only for them to mistake roof tiles for path tiles? 

Perhaps this is an issue for OUSA to bring before the University in the best interests of the students. Before we end up with another cracked spine or ripped liver. 

Hugh Baird
Critic Editor

This article first appeared in Issue 17, 2016.
Posted 10:34am Sunday 31st July 2016 by Hugh Baird.