Can Tribometers and Testing Protocols Affect Slip Resistance Values and Opinions?

Abstract

Forensic investigations of slip and fall accidents often entail measuring the slip resistance of the subject floor with tribometers that are often different, which results in expectedly different slip resistance values. Differences in slip resistance measurements obtained on the same floor can be expected when measured with two different tribometers due to the nature of their operation and testing protocol. One such case involved slip resistance testing with two different tribometers using disparate protocols. The measured slip resistance values were substantially different from each other beyond what would be intuitively expected. Nevertheless, specious comparisons were made in this case between the slip resistance values that were measured with two different tribometers. A preliminary laboratory-based study was conducted to investigate the consistency of the differences in slip resistance measurements across floors, which underscores that the proper interpretation of the slip resistance values must be made within the framework of each tribometer.