Assessment of slipping resistance of footwear and floor surfaces. Influence of manufacture and utilization of the products.

The slipping resistance of footwear or floor surfaces is a characteristic which it is vital to be able to quantify. Work is being carried out at the International Standard Organization (ISO) and at the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) into the slip resistance of both work shoes and protective footwear, involving analysis of the latest developments in both the validity of measuring methods and the extent of the influence of certain experimental parameters on the slip resistance. Two industrial factors, independent of the measuring process but essential to the determination of the coefficient of friction of the models have been experimentally studied, namely the effect of the manufacture of the footwear or floor surfaces on the scattering of the specific coefficient of friction of a referenced model and the effect on the coefficient of friction of mechanical wear and tear on the soles as a result of their use respectively. Work into slipping on industrial floor surfaces is less advanced. Yet, problems raised call for the same approach than for problems linked to slipping resistance of footwear, and applications will be also at first related to standardized measurement conditions.