Design and Evaluation of Slip Resistant Winter Footwear

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Slip-and-fall incidents are the leading cause of occupational injuries in workers exposed to outdoor winter conditions. One in five claims in Ontario are for fall-related injuries that each result in 36 days of lost time on average and affect many industries. Snow and ice covered walkways and stairs result in higher rates of falls during the winter months. My previous work has shown that existing footwear marketed for use in the winter tends to have poor slip resistance on icy surfaces. Further, I have developed a number of novel composite materials that have the potential to greatly increase slip resistance and reduce fall-related injuries in the winter once they are incorporated in footwear outsole designs.******OBJECTIVES:***My long-term vision is to develop a comprehensive understanding of how footwear can be designed to prevent slips on snow and ice and to use this understanding to design footwear based on novel composite materials to make the winter season safer for all.******My short-term objectives are to:***1. Investigate the relationship between outsole wear and slip resistance in winter weather***2. Investigate the relationship between tread pattern and slip resistance on ice and snow***3. Validate the performance of novel outsole designs in the real-world winter using a wearable slip detector******This 5 year research program includes three studies:***Study 1 will ask mail carriers to wear 5 popular models of footwear with attached pedometers for 5 months including the winter season with slip resistance and wear measurements taken monthly so that a relationship between wear and slip resistance can be developed.******Study 2 will examine outsole tread design features such as tread width, depth and groove direction on ice and snow surfaces in a simulated winter environment using our recently developed max-incline testing protocol.******Study 3 will attempt to validate the max-incline testing results of the best combinations of composite materials and tread patterns using a wearable slip detector worn by mail carriers on the job.******MOTIVATION:***In contrast to outdoor winter footwear, indoor footwear benefits from standardized slip resistance ratings based on robust test methods. For example, an intervention with slip-resistant indoor footwear resulted in a 54% reduction in the rate of slipping with restaurant workers. Until very recently, robust slip resistance ratings were not available for winter footwear. I contributed to the development of a novel standardized slip resistance testing protocol on ice and snow (the max-incline test). The lack of an accepted ice and snow slip-resistance test methods had resulted in a lack of innovation and outdoor workers continue to experience high rates of falls/injuries in the winter. The design of novel footwear outsoles using advanced slip resistant composite materials has the potential to dramatically reduce fall-related injuries in outdoor workers across industries.