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

Abstract

Abstract:Maintaining postural stability is crucial, especially in hazardous occupational environments. The purpose of the study was to assess the role of three occupational footwear (low top shoe (LT); tactical work boot (TB) and steel-toed work boot (WB)) on postural stability when exposed to an occupational workload (4-h) involving standing/walking using the sensory organization test (SOT) equilibrium (EQ) scores and comparing current results with previously published postural sway variables from the same study. Fourteen male adults were tested on three separate days wearing a randomized occupational footwear, at the beginning (pre) and every 30 min of the 4-h workload until 240th min. SOT EQ scores were analyzed using a 3 × 9 repeated measures analysis of variance at an alpha level of 0.05. Significant differences between footwear was found in eyes open (p = 0.03) and eyes closed (p = 0.001) conditions. Pairwise comparisons revealed that LT had significantly lower postural stability compared to TB and WB. No other significant differences were found between footwear and over time. Significant differences between footwear can be attributed to design characteristics of footwear. Lack of significant differences over time suggests that, even though the average EQ scores decreased during the workload implying less postural stability, SOT EQ scores alone may not be sufficient to detect postural stability changes over the 4-h workload.

Why Do Workers Take Safety Risks?—A Conceptual Model for the Motivation Underpinning Perverse Agency

“…This is evident in the hazard assessment methodology and its deviations [2]. The general strategy has focused on avoiding accidents by safety by design of technology, e.g., plant layout design [3], equipment design [4,5], safety system design [6], maintenance design [7], and risk management [8]. Other accidents prevention mechanisms are safety training [9] and signage [10,11].…”

Ski Boots Do Not Impair Standing Balance by Restricting Ankle-Joint Mobility

“…The reduction of mediolateral COP velocity observed with ski boots can also stem from improved somatosensation. The idea of a beneficial effect of HS boots and ankle taping/bracing on postural control with bipedal standing tasks due to an increased proprioceptive acuity has been previously emphasized (Baier & Hopf, 1998;Chander et al, 2014Chander et al, , 2015Chander et al, , 2017Cordova & Ingersoll, 2003;Dobson et al, 2017;Simeonov et al, 2008). The generally given explanation is that HS boots or external ankle supports provide additional tactile information around the ankle and the lower part of the leg, which improves somatosensation and postural stability, with a main influence in the frontal plane.…”

“…Proper postural control is crucial in an occupational setting and sports in order to perform job tasks efficiently and safely and to optimize motor performance while preventing falls and fall-related injuries (Chander, Garner, & Wade, 2014;Chander, Garner, Wade, & Knight, 2017;Paillard, 2017). According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, of the 892,270 private industry nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses involving days away from work during 2016, 25.7% were due to work-related falls (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2018).…”

“…According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, of the 892,270 private industry nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses involving days away from work during 2016, 25.7% were due to work-related falls (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2018). Falls are multifactorial in nature and include the interaction of intrinsic and extrinsic factors such as the type of footwear worn, which forms the contacting medium between the body and the standing/ walking environment (Brecht & Chang, 1995;Chander et al, 2017). It has been widely demonstrated with both young and elderly subjects that footwear characteristics such as the sole hardness and thickness, heel and midsole geometry, boot shaft height, mass, and type of material of the footwear could influence postural stability in either a beneficial or detrimental manner, by potentially increasing or decreasing somatosensory feedbacks from the foot and ankle and modifying the mechanical conditions at the foot sole/ground interface (Brecht & Chang, 1995;DeBusk, Hill, Chander, Knight, & Babski-Reeves, 2018;Garner, Wade, Garten, Chander, & Acevedo, 2013;Kim, Kong, & Yoo, 2017;Menant, Steele, Menz, Munro, & Lord, 2008;Menz & Lord, 1999;Mildner, Lembert, & Raschner, 2010;Tchórzewski, Bujas, & Jankowicz-Szymańska, 2013;Dobson, Riddiford-Harland, Bell, & Steele, 2017).…”

“…Regarding different features of shoe design, studies about the influence of boot shaft height on postural control have produced conflicting results, showing impeded (Brecht & Chang, 1995;Kim et al, 2017;Mildner et al, 2010;Tchórzewski et al, 2013), unchanged (Noé, Amarantini, & Paillard, 2009), or enhanced (Chander et al, 2014(Chander et al, , 2017Chander, Wade, & Garner, 2015) postural control when wearing boots with a high shaft (HS) such as work boots, military boots, or ski boots. The detrimental effect of HS boots on postural control has been attributed mainly to their restrictive effect on ankle joint mobility, which adversely influences both the motor and sensory components of the postural control system, by limiting the ankle movements necessary for postural stabilization and decreasing the proprioceptive input induced by ankle motion (Mildner et al, 2010;Tchórzewski et al, 2013).…”