Effect of footwear material wear on slips and falls

Abstract

Recurrent injuries related to slips and falls are common in workplaces, caused due to reduction of friction between the floor and footwear, due to material wear. However, due to lack of public awareness, such events are usually neglected and the role of footwear wear is underestimated. To date, a plethora of studies have tested footwear traction across floorings and contaminants, however the effect of shoe material wear on the friction has not been studied much. In this study, the outsole features of four common formal shoes were modelled and tested in their new and progressively worn conditions. The available coefficient of friction (ACOF) of the outsoles were estimated using a mechanical slip testing device across three common floorings (i.e., gloss, matt, and anti-skid), and in dry and slippery conditions such as with floor cleaner and canola oil. ACOF reductions in the range of 25–80% were observed in progressively worn outsoles. Outsoles with vertical tread orientation were found to generate higher ACOF in fluid contaminant conditions. Outsoles which had larger treads at the heel region showed consistent trend in the traction performance across all the conditions. The outsoles were found to produce generalizable results in the presence of canola oil as a contaminant. The results are anticipated to provide important guidelines for selection and design of footwear outsole features, and also in determining the replacement threshold of formal shoes.