This winter, test your footwear in WinterLab

Posted December 11, 2015

Yue Lia, PhD; Tilak Duttaa,b, PhD; Geoff Ferniea,b, PhD
a Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, 550 University Avenue, Toronto, ON, Canada M5G 2A2
b University of Toronto, 35 St. George Street, Toronto, ON, Canada M5S 1A4


Winter presents many challenges to the safety and mobility of vulnerable older people and people with disabilities. The number of falls in winter conditions has been increasing (1,2). This has created a sense of fear and discomfort for people to leave their homes (3), and limited their independence by socially isolating themselves indoors. It has been shown, those who had previously fallen in these environments, were more likely than others to restrict their activities (4,5). The winters of 2014 and 2015 have posed particularly difficult and dangerous challenges for many people living in North America. There is an urgent need to develop products and guidelines to create a safer and more accessible environment in winter for everyone. In particular, we found there was a need to study the performance of footwear in wintry conditions in order to understand the impact and problems associated in environments with snow, ice, and the cold itself with the end goal to develop solutions to alleviate these problems.


Ice and snow are hazards that increase the risk of falls. Although slip-resistant footwear has been shown to reduce the risk of falls and injury, there is no accepted standard for evaluating slip-resistance on ice and snow. Existing standard methods for testing the slip resistance of winter footwear have not been validated for winter test conditions. As a result, consumers are provided with limited and potentially misleading information when selecting winter footwear, and designers and manufacturers do not have an objective and reliable method for evaluating their designs. Using WinterLab, we have developed a human-centred method by determining the maximum achievable angles that participants could walk up and down slopes of wet ice, dry ice, and ice with snow, in a range of footwear (6,7). WinterLab is a 5m by 5m self-contained lab where we have the ability to lower the temperature below zero to create snow and ice. This lab can be attached to our 6 degree of freedom motion base to create slopes up to 22 degrees as shown in Figure 1. Working with several national and international footwear companies, we aim to create a better, more realistic slip test method and rating system that Canadian consumers can understand and have it accepted as the industry standard. We have already introduced our new footwear test method to the ASTM (American Society of the International Association for Testing and Materials) and CSA (Canadian Standards Association) footwear committee and envision developing a meaningful and easy to understand labeling system for winter footwear. Some of our results are startling and include findings that some footwear that is promoted as being suitable for winter wear is very dangerous.  We are confident that the comparative charts that we plan to publish will help large numbers of people select safer footwear for winter use.


Figure 1. (a) WinterLab on the motion base to create slopes.

(b) A participant testing footwear inside the WinterLab.


This winter, we have been hosting footwear testing for people who are interested in finding out the slip resistance of their own footwear. If you would like to come to TRI to test your footwear on icy slopes in WinterLab, please contact Yue Li at yue.li@uhn.ca or 416-597-3422 x7950 for more information. You will be eligible to partake in the activities if you:



  • can walk for 20 minutes without stopping

  • go outdoors in the winter time

  • have no breathing or heart condition

  • do not take drugs that affect your balance or mobility

  • do not have osteoporosis

  • do not have musculoskeletal injury (e.g. sprain, fractural, torn ligament)

  • do not have epilepsy


References:



  1. Crawford JR, Parker MJ. Seasonal variation of proximal femoral fractures in the United Kingdom. Injury. 2003 Aug 12;34(3):223–5.

  2. Gao C, Abeysekera J. A systems perspective of slip and fall accidents on icy and snowy surfaces. Ergonomics. 2004 Mar 7;47(5):573–98.

  3. Daum M, Daum R. Seasonal Vulnerability of the Old and Cold-The Role of the Senior Citizen Center. J Gerontol Soc Work. 1983 Aug 12;5(4):81–106.

  4. Murphy SL, Dubin JA, Gill TM. The Development of Fear of Falling Among Community-Living Older Women: Predisposing Factors and Subsequent Fall Events. J Gerontol - Ser Biol Sci Med Sci. 2003 Aug 12;58(10):943–7.

  5. Shumway-Cook A, Patla AE, Stewart A, Ferrucci L, Ciol MA, Guralnik JM. Environmental Demands Associated With Community Mobility in Older Adults With and Without Mobility Disabilities. Phys Ther. 2002 Oct 17;82(7):670–81.

  6. Hsu J, Li Y, Dutta T, Fernie G. Assessing the performance of winter footwear using a new maximum achievable incline method. Appl Ergon. 2015;50:218–25.

  7. Li Y, Montgomery R, Dutta T, Fernie G. Footwear and Mobility Scooters: Developing Performance Standards For Winter Conditions Using An Adjustable Ramp Test. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2014 Oct 1;95(10):e105.

Content Related To: Ice, Research, Snow, Winter, WinterLab