Perception of Floor Slipperiness Before and After a Walk

Abstract

Nowadays, Slips and falls have become the leading causes of deaths and injuries at both workplaces and public sectors. Perception of floor slipperiness has been considered as one of the important item affecting the gait pattern of a walker and thus affects the risk of slip and fall. For investigating the factors affecting the perception of floor slipperiness and the relationship between the perception rating of floor slipperiness before and after a walk, a gait experiment was conducted. Two walkways, each of 5.4 m long, were installed. The floors on these walkways were polished granite and ceramic tile. There were two floor surface conditions: dry and water-detergent solution contaminated conditions. Two types of shoes were tested: rubber-soled and EVA-soled. In addition, the illumination conditions included light and dark. In the experiment, the subject stood in front of the walkway and reported his perception rating of floor slipperiness though a five-point scales from 1 extremely slippery to 5 not slippery at all. He, then walked through the walkway and gave his perception rating of floor slipperiness again. In addition, he also gave a perceive sense of slipperiness. The results indicated that the perception rating of floor slipperiness both before and after walk and the perceive sense of slip were all affected significantly by floor (p < 0.0001) and floor surface conditions (p < 0.0001). Details of the results were discussed. The information in this study is helpful in understanding human behaviors when walking on slippery and non-slippery floors.