Selecting slip resistant winter footwear for personal support workers

Bagheri, Z. Shaghayegh; Patel, Nidhi; Li, Yue; Rizzi, Katherine; Lui, Kai Yan Grace; Holyoke, Paul; Fernie, Geoff; Dutta, Tilak

doi:10.3233/wor-192947

Cited by 17 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Our testing has shown that the MAA test is able to identify differences in slip resistance performance that the SATRA test is unable to find [ 19 ]. In fact, our findings have shown that slip resistance varies widely among commercially available winter footwear and that a new generation of slip resistant winter footwear that incorporates composite materials performs much better than most other footwear available on the market [ 20 , 21 ]. These advance materials have also been shown to perform better than conventional footwear in real-world conditions [ 13 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development and Evaluation of a Slip Detection Algorithm for Walking on Level and Inclined Ice Surfaces

Cen

Dutta

2022

Sensors

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Slip-resistant footwear can prevent fall-related injuries on icy surfaces. Winter footwear slip resistance can be measured by the Maximum Achievable Angle (MAA) test, which measures the steepest ice-covered incline that participants can walk up and down without experiencing a slip. However, the MAA test requires the use of a human observer to detect slips, which increases the variability of the test. The objective of this study was to develop and evaluate an automated slip detection algorithm for walking on level and inclined ice surfaces to be used with the MAA test to replace the need for human observers. Kinematic data were collected from nine healthy young adults walking up and down on ice surfaces in a range from 0° to 12° using an optical motion capture system. Our algorithm segmented these data into steps and extracted features as inputs to two linear support vector machine classifiers. The two classifiers were trained, optimized, and validated to classify toe slips and heel slips, respectively. A total of approximately 11,000 steps from 9 healthy participants were collected, which included approximately 4700 slips. Our algorithm was able to detect slips with an overall F1 score of 90.1%. In addition, the algorithm was able to accurately classify backward toe slips, forward toe slips, backward heel slips, and forward heel slips with F1 scores of 97.3%, 54.5%, 80.9%, and 86.5%, respectively.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development and Evaluation of a Slip Detection Algorithm for Walking on Level and Inclined Ice Surfaces

Cen

Dutta

2022

Sensors

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“…[ 17 , 18 ]. A human-centred test method has been developed by researchers at KITE (Knowledge, Innovation, Talent, Everywhere)Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, University Health Network (KITE) to evaluate footwear slip resistance on ice surfaces [ 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ]. Tests are done inside the WinterLab, which is one of KITE’s Challenging Environment Assessment Laboratories (CEAL).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…WinterLab has a real ice floor that can reach sub-zero temperatures. The method, called the Maximum Achievable Angle (MAA) test, measures the steepest incline that participants can walk up and down while wearing test footwear without experiencing a two-foot slip [ 21 , 22 ]. The method can be performed on melting wet ice and smooth cold dry ice [ 23 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The MAA test method has demonstrated good repeatability and consistent results when ranking footwear on various icy surfaces [ 19 , 20 , 26 ]. This method has also shown to be a useful and valid test in a study, where winter boots with high MAA scores worn by workers have actually been involved in fewer slips than those in a control group [ 22 , 27 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evaluation of Winter Footwear: Comparison of Test Methods to Determine Footwear Slip Resistance on Ice Surfaces

Fekr

Gauvin

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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The use of slip-resistant winter footwear is crucial for the prevention of slips and falls on ice and snow. The main objective of this paper is to evaluate a mechanical testing method to determine footwear slip resistance on wet and dry ice surfaces and to compare it with the human-centred test method introduced by researchers at KITE (Knowledge, Innovation, Talent, Everywhere)-Toronto Rehabilitation Institute-University Health Network. Phase 1 of this study assessed the repeatability and reproducibility of the mechanical method by evaluating ten different occupational winter boots using two SATRA Slip resistance testers (STM 603, SATRA Technology Centre, Kettering, UK). One tester is located in Toronto and one in Montreal. These boots were chosen based on the needs of the IRSST (Institut de Recherche Robert-Sauvé en Santé et en Sécurité du Travail, Montréal, Quebec, Canada), who were primarily interested in providing safe winter footwear for police, firefighters and municipal workers. In Phase 2, the results of the human-centred test approach were compared with the mechanical results. In Phase 3, two of these boots with conflicting results from the previous phases were tested using a second human-centred method. In Phase 1, the mechanical testing results obtained in the two labs showed a high linear correlation (>0.94) and good agreement on both ice surfaces; however, they revealed a bias (~0.06) between the two labs on the dry ice condition. The mechanical and human-centred tests (phase 2) were found to be better correlated in the wet ice condition (R = 0.95) compared to the dry ice condition (R = 0.34). Finally, the rating of the footwear slip resistance based on the number of slips counted in phase 3 was consistent with the rating by the human-centred test method (phase 2), but not the mechanical method (phase 1). The findings of this study provide a better understanding of the limitations of the SATRA ice tray for measuring footwear slip resistance and demonstrate that the mechanical method must be further refined to make it more comparable to the human-centred methods to achieve better agreement with real-world performance.

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“…Most previous snow boot research conducted slip resistance property evaluations under simulated conditions (Bagheri et al, 2019; Hsu et al, 2016). However, performance assessment of the snow boots on natural, operationally representative terrain is ultimately needed for successful development.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Extreme Interaction Among Human–Environment–Equipment: A Pilot Study on the Ergonomic Design of Military Snow Boots

Bhattacharyya¹,

Pal²,

Chatterjee³

et al. 2021

Ergonomics in Design: The Quarterly of Human Factors Applicatio

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The Indian soldiers guard the border regions located at extreme elevations in cold, often snow-covered conditions. Protecting their feet from life-threatening cold injuries is a primary objective as well as a matter of national security. As a solution, a new cold-condition “snow boot” design based on ergonomic principles was developed indigenously. The present study was conducted to assess the efficacy of the newly developed snow boot through the application of both objective and subjective tools. The new snow boot was as effective as an existing imported boot. Users preferred the new design and appreciated the boot’s relative lightweight.

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Selecting slip resistant winter footwear for personal support workers

Cited by 17 publications

References 18 publications

Development and Evaluation of a Slip Detection Algorithm for Walking on Level and Inclined Ice Surfaces

Development and Evaluation of a Slip Detection Algorithm for Walking on Level and Inclined Ice Surfaces

Evaluation of Winter Footwear: Comparison of Test Methods to Determine Footwear Slip Resistance on Ice Surfaces

Extreme Interaction Among Human–Environment–Equipment: A Pilot Study on the Ergonomic Design of Military Snow Boots

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