Citation

Dura JV, Alcantara E, Zamora T, Balaguer E, Rosa D. Safety Sci. 2005; 43(7): 407-423.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2005, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Friction properties of floors have been widely studied to prevent falling accidents. There are many different testing methods available to measure the dynamic coefficient of friction (DCOF). A safety level can be established for floors by comparing the DCOF with the required coefficient of friction (RCOF), which is obtained from walking tests. However, in practice this faces two main problems: there is not a single repeatable and widely accepted testing method to obtain DCOF and, although RCOF has been shown to be higher in mobility disabled people, there is not available information enough to select the proper RCOF.This paper presents the work conducted to establish a safe level of coefficient of friction (COF) for floors in public buildings. Walking studies on people with different pathologies affecting walking ability were first conducted to identify the population group with the highest RCOF. This group took part in a second experiment in which the DCOF obtained for a sample of floors with a new testing device was compared to the RCOF and subjective safety perception to establish a safety level.Results showed that amputees have the highest RCOF. The DCOF obtained with a new testing device showed a high correlation with average safety perception. The results suggested that the DCOF should be greater than 0.4 for safe walking. More research is needed to analyze the relationship between the DCOF measured with the new testing device and the RCOF to clearly establish the probability of falling.