Floor Slipperiness Effect on the Biomechanical Study of Slips and Falls

A study was conducted to find the possible relationship between slip distance and dynamic coefficient of friction (DCOF) through the biomechanical study of slips and falls using a broader variety of floors and levels of slipperiness than those used before. Four different floor surfaces covering the full range of floor slipperiness (with and without on oil contaminant) were prepared for ten subjects with each walking at a fixed velocity. The results showed that slip distance and heel velocity had a decreasing trend while stride length had a increasing trend as DCOF increased. The contaminant effect overpowered floor slipperiness effect because a higher DCOF surface with oil contaminant created longer slip distance than the lower DCOF with dry floor. Normal gait pattern and suggested heel velocity (10 to 20 cm/sec) were seen on dry floors but abnormally longer stride length and 5 to 10 times faster heel velocity were found an oily floors. In other words, faster heel velocity (greater than 10 to 20 cm/sec) is recommended to measure DCOF on oily floors because the assumption of normal gait was no longer valid.