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The effects of 10% front load carriage on the likelihood of slips and falls



Details

  • Personal Author:
  • Description:
    The objective of the present study was to evaluate if anterior load carriage would increase the likelihood of slips or falls while walking over a slippery floor surface. The study hypothesized that anterior load carriage may alter spatial-temporal characteristics, such as heel contact velocity, walking velocity (i.e., the whole body center-of-mass velocity), and step length, as well as friction demand characteristics at shoe-floor interface. Additionally, the study hypothesized that alterations in these gait parameters may influence slip initiation characteristics while ambulating over a slippery floor surface. Total of 10 subjects participated in the study: 5 younger (18-28 yr old) and 5 older adults (65 and older). A mixture was used to manipulate the coefficient of friction (COF) of the floor surface. All participants were unexpectedly introduced to a slippery surface while walking with and without a load. To evaluate slip severity, slip distance I and II were evaluated to assess whether a subject fell or not. Three-way repeated measure ANOVA (mix-factor design) was performed: Age factor: between-subject, Load and Floor factors: within-subject. Overall, older adults' heel contact velocity was slower while carrying a load. Additionally, all participants exhibited shorter SL while carrying a load. No significant friction demand characteristic differences were observed for all subjects while carrying a 10% front load. The results from the present study suggest that carrying 10% of the body weight in front should not intensify the slip propensity and severity although appears to influence spatial-temporal gait characteristics. [Description provided by NIOSH]
  • Subjects:
  • Keywords:
  • ISSN:
    0019-8366
  • Document Type:
    Text
  • Funding:
    Cooperative Agreement
  • Genre:
    Journal Article
  • Place as Subject:
  • CIO:
    National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
  • Topic:
    Workplace Safety & Health
  • Location:
    North America
  • Pages in Document:
    32-39
  • Volume:
    46
  • Issue:
    1
  • NIOSHTIC Number:
    nn:20043295
  • Citation:
    Ind Health 2008 Jan; 46(1):32-39
  • Contact Point Address:
    Thurmon E. Lockhart, Locomotion Research Laboratory, Grado Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24060
  • Federal Fiscal Year:
    2008
  • Performing Organization:
    Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
  • Peer Reviewed:
    True
  • Start Date:
    20040915
  • Source Full Name:
    Industrial Health
  • End Date:
    20100630
  • Collection(s):
  • Main Document Checksum:
    urn:sha-512:4e86f331d4b18230e7669a0748025642c6727c1758ba22cd78cbce7f2ad67c7b5a85e840b4a972b1acde1d0eaabeb89aecdd235219fec7da72fc7c7a2f01ebba
  • Download URL:
  • File Type:
    Filetype[PDF - 118.00 KB ]
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