Perceived floor slipperiness and floor roughness in a gait experiment

Area of Science:

• Occupational Safety and Health
• Human Factors Engineering
• Biomechanics

Background:

• Slips and falls are major causes of workplace injuries and fatalities worldwide.
• Both floor slipperiness and roughness significantly influence fall incidents.
• Understanding fall phenomena is crucial for worker safety.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare perceived floor slipperiness before and after walking.
• To analyze perceived slipperiness with and without shoes across genders.
• To develop models linking perceived slipperiness to actual floor friction.

Main Methods:

• Male and female participants walked on 3m walkways.
• Perceived floor slipperiness was rated before and after walking.
• Footwear conditions (with/without shoes) were varied.

Main Results:

• Floor and surface conditions significantly impacted perceived slipperiness.
• Gender, floor, surface, and footwear all affected slipperiness perception adjustments.
• Participants adjusted slipperiness ratings more when wearing shoes compared to being barefoot.

Conclusions:

• Regression models were developed to correlate perceived slipperiness with floor coefficient of friction.
• These models can estimate perceived slipperiness or floor friction.
• This can aid in preventing workplace slips and falls.