Choosing and replacing slip-resistant shoes for food service workers
Preventing Slips in Food Service: Development of Tools for Shoe Selection and Replacement
Developing easy-to-use tools to help restaurant and cafeteria workers pick and replace shoes that reduce slips and falls.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Pittsburgh, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11094678 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
If you work in a kitchen or cafeteria, this project aims to give you simple tools to pick and check shoes that grip floors better. The team will talk with workers and visit food service sites to find the most common floors, spills, and shoes linked to slips. They will measure how slippery commonly worn shoes are in the lab and on the job and build a database of those results. Using worker feedback, the researchers will create and refine easy selection and inspection guides for workplaces to use.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal participants are current food service workers (cooks, servers, dishwashers, managers) who wear or choose work footwear and can take part in interviews or on-site testing.
Not a fit: People who do not work in food service, do not wear shoes on the job, or whose workplaces cannot adopt footwear recommendations may not receive direct benefit.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, these tools could lower slip-and-fall injuries among food service workers by helping them choose safer shoes and know when to replace them.
How similar studies have performed: Prior research shows slip-resistant footwear and workplace safety programs can cut falls, but developing practical, industry-specific shoe-selection and inspection tools is a newer, less-tested approach.
Where this research is happening
Pittsburgh, United States
- University of Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh — Pittsburgh, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Beschorner, Kurt E — University of Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh
- Study coordinator: Beschorner, Kurt E
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.