title: Slip resistant properties of footwear on ice.
abstract: Current research on slipperiness of footwear has mainly focused on floors and lubricated floors. Slips and falls on icy and snowy surfaces involve not only outdoor workers, but also pedestrians and the general public; and occur in cold regions and in winter season in many parts of the world. However, in comparison with the size of the problem, research on slips and falls on icy and snowy surfaces has been scarce. The objective of this paper is to explore the slip resistant properties of footwear (soling materials, roughness and hardness) on ice. The coefficients of kinetic friction of four different soling materials (synthetic rubber, nitrile rubber, natural rubber and polyurethane) were measured on ice (-12 degrees C). The outsole roughness and hardness were also measured. Results showed that the polyurethane soling did not perform better than synthetic rubber, nitrile rubber and natural rubber on pure hard ice (-12 degrees C). Soling roughness was positively correlated with the coefficient of kinetic friction. The most slip resistant soling material (polyurethane) on floors and lubricated floors may not provide sufficient slip resistance on ice.
authors.affiliation: Division of Industrial Ergonomics, Department of Human Work Sciences, Luleå University of Technology, S-971 87 Luleå, Sweden. Chuansi.Gao@arb.luth.se
authors.forename: Chuansi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Abeysekera
authors.forename: Mikko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hirvonen
authors.forename: Raoul
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Grönqvist
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000517:prevention & control*; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D004867:Equipment Design; D017276:Friction; D006801:Humans; D007053:Ice; D012775:Shoes / Q000592:standards*; D012914:Snow; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D007053:Ice