Challenge:
Slips and falls are the leading cause of injuries related to footwear. In today’s litigation culture footwear companies and retailers are faced with the question of how best to assess the slip resistance of their products in order to reduce the risk of accidents that may result in financial penalties, and potentially even greater costs through damage to brand reputation.

Historically there have been a quite a number of different test methods utilising various techniques for measuring slip resistance. Several years ago two popular slip resistance test methods, ASTM F489 and ASTM F1677, were both withdrawn and were not replaced. In January 2012 however a new method was published, ASTM F2913-11.

Solution:
Advantages of the new ASTM F2913-11 test method include:
-  More sophisticated than previous ASTM slip resistance test methods
-  Assesses "kinetic friction" rather than "static friction"
-  Footwear can be tested on a multitude of different flooring surfaces, dry and wet, or with contaminants
-  Attempts to simulate real-life slip incidents by using:

• realistic level of force between footwear and floor surface
• realistic sliding velocity
• realistic contact angles and directions of slip

Intertek’s footwear labs are fully equipped to perform ASTM F2913-11 testing.