Citation

Gao C, Abeysekera JD. Safety Sci. 2004; 42(6): 537-545.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2004, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The objective of this paper was to investigate whether living experience in winter climate and winter sport helps to prevent slips and falls on ice and snow. A questionnaire survey was conducted among foreigners at Lulea University of Technology of Sweden, where winter season lasts for six months in a year. Seventy respondents replied. The results of ordinal regression showed that the slip frequency according to a 5-point rating scale decreased as the living experience in cold environments increased (B=-0.0113, p=0.019). A logistic regression was applied to model the probability of fall events occurrence based on the experience of living in cold climate. The results showed that the fall events reduced as living experience increased (B=-0.030, p=0.001). Chi-square test showed that fall events in those who took part in winter sport were significantly less than in those who did not participate in winter sport ([chi]2=10.745, p=0.001). The findings imply that experience of living in cold environments and training in gait balance on ice and snow can have positive effects in preventing slips and falls for inexperienced workers and pedestrians. This study also revealed that the majority of fall events happened on hard ice covered with snow while wearing ordinary winter footwear, indicating the need to improve slip resistance.