TY - JOUR PY - 2017// TI - Effects of shoe wear on slipping - implications for shoe replacement threshold JO - Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomic Society annual meeting A1 - Hemler, Sarah L. A1 - Charbonneau, Danielle N. A1 - Beschorner, Kurt E. SP - 1424 EP - 1428 VL - 61 IS - 1 N2 - In the workplace, slips and falls account for a large portion of injuries. Although past research has identified relationships between shoe wear and shoe-floor-contaminant dynamics (coefficient of friction (COF) and fluid pressures), the relationship between wear and COF has not been well characterized. The purpose of this study is to track COF and under-shoe fluid pressure changes as shoes are worn over time. Wear was simulated for two different shoes via an abrasion protocol. COF and fluid pressure measurements were conducted using a robotic slip tester. For each shoe, the COF initially increased from the baseline value followed by a steady decrease. Fluid pressure data suggests that the risk of slipping increases drastically when the area of the completely worn region of a shoe reaches a threshold of 740 mm2. These results suggest that the size of the wear patch is a better indicator for replacing shoes than tread depth.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 2169-5067 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1541931213601839 ID - ref1 ER -