Abstract—Slip and fall incidences are common both at work and in our daily lives. They are not only serious environmental safety issues but also important occupational safety and health problems. Floor slipperiness has been identified as one of the critical factors affecting the risk of slip and fall. Floor slipperiness may be quantified by measuring the coefficient of friction of the floor. It may also be determined by human judgements. How people perceive floor slipperiness is an important factor affecting the likelihood of a slip/fall incidence. The purpose of this study was to determine the difference of perceived floor slipperiness by human subjects under different floor roughness levels, floor conditions and sensation mode. Fifteen floor samples were tested under dry, wet, and soapy solution contaminated conditions. Twenty human subjects were recruited to rate the floor slipperiness of the floor samples using visual and tactile sensations. The results showed that the effects of the three factors on the subjective ratings were statistically significance (p <0.0001). The two-way and three-way interaction effects were also significance (p < 0.0001). The results of the study are beneficial in housekeeping and safety training at workplaces to reduce slip & fall incidences. The results of this study provide important information for slip and fall prevention.
Index Terms—Slip and fall, risk of fall, friction, subjective rating.
Oyun-Erdene Enkhjargal and Kai Way Li are with the Department of Industrial Management, Chung Hua University, Hsin-Chu, Taiwan (e-mail: oyunerdene.enkhjargal@yahoo.com).
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Cite: Oyun-Erdene Enkhjargal and Kai Way Li, "Subjective Ratings of Floor Slippery on Common Indoor and Outdoor Floors," International Journal of Engineering and Technology vol. 11, no. 4, pp. 241-244, 2019.
