The influence of different footwear on floor contamination.

The importance of walking as a source of floor contamination and the influence of different footwear routines on floor contamination was evaluated. The contamination of a floor due to walking was about 16 times higher than contamination of the floor due to sedimentation only, measured with impression plates. No significant difference in floor contamination could be seen with different footwear (ordinary shoes, clean shoes, shoe covers). In all experiments the amount of bacteria, was low in the morning and increased in the middle of the day when a steady state seemed to be reached. The number of Staphylococcus aureus continued to increase. A footwear regimen is only recommended in areas where floors are cleaned frequently during the day as in operating wards.