Impact on balance while walking in occupational footwear

Abstract

Hazards and challenges present in the workplace pose a number of potential balance risks for injuries and illness. Purpose: The purpose of the study was to examine the differences in balance while walking for extended durations with different types of occupational footwear. Methods: Participants were tested for balance prior to walking session (Pre) and then again every 30 minutes until the 240 th minute in three types of occupational footwear; work boots, tactical boots and low top shoes. Sway velocity and rootmean-square sway in the anterior-posterior and medial-lateral directions were evaluated using a 3 Â 9 repeated measures analysis of variance to identify any existing differences within exposure time and footwear types. Results: Significant differences in postural sway were found over time in medial-lateral sway and between footwear in anterior-posterior and medial-lateral sway. Significant differences were found between the work boots, tactical boots and low top shoes, with the low top shoes exhibiting an increased postural sway. Conclusion: The changes in balance over time may be attributed to the workload placed on the individual resulting from the extended durations of walking/standing. Use of low top shoes resulted in a relatively greater balance decrement. The work boots and tactical boots despite having a greater mass, resulted in less of a balance decrement, which may be attributed to their elevated boot shaft height.

Postural Control in Workplace Safety: Role of Occupational Footwear and Workload

“…More recently, the impact of three occupational footwear and an occupational workload on postural stability have been analyzed [5]. The findings from this study report postural stability changes using the sensory organization test (SOT) on the Neurocom Equitest ™ (Neurocom International Inc, Clackamas, OR, USA), quantified by anterior-posterior and medial-lateral sway velocities and root mean square sway derived from center of pressure (COP) measures.…”

“…The physical exertion due to such occupations and the environmental constraints of the workplace, create greater demands on the postural control system and increase the risk of occupational falls [3]. Previous studies have identified postural instability when exposed to an occupational workload or physical exertion [4][5][6]. Increases in postural sway, which often accompany fatigue, mark decreased stability.…”

“…These increases in sway can be attributed to impairments of any of these systems [2]. Standing and walking for long periods of work hours have been reported to cause postural instability on flat surfaces [5,7] and on inclined or unstable surfaces [8,9]. Muscular fatigue or exertion, resulting from such physical demands of the occupation is considered as an important intrinsic human factor that plays a significant role in postural control.…”

“…They also play a significant role in relaying afferent somatosensory and proprioceptive sensory information from the environment and the feet, to the postural control system, aiding in maintaining postural stability. Previous studies have reported the impact of different footwear types, identifying both advantageous and disadvantageous effects in maintaining postural stability that were attributed to specific design characteristics, such as heel height, mass, boot shaft height and flexibility, mid and outer-sole thickness, slip-resistant outsoles, lacing types and material of the footwear [4,5,[12][13][14][15][16].…”

Evaluating Human Balance Following an Exercise Intervention in Previously Sedentary, Overweight Adults

“…COP excursions derived from the Neurocom Equitest were used to calculate sway parameters of average sway velocity (VEL) and postural sway root mean square (RMS) in both medial-lateral and anterior-posterior directions (medial-lateral sway velocity (MLVEL), anterior-posterior sway velocity (APVEL), medial-lateral sway RMS (MLRMS), and anterior-posterior sway RMS (APRMS)) using the Equations (1) and (2) [23][24][25]. Higher values of sway parameters represent a greater postural sway during the balance tests and indicate decreased balance and postural stability.…”