Why We Care
Slips happen in a second but consequences can last a lifetime.
Every year, thousands of Canadians experience serious falls on icy sidewalks, wet indoor floors, and at work. In 2019, 67,418 emergency department visits in Canada were attributed to unintentional falls on ice. For all age groups, the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) reported 152,504 hospital stays due to unintentional falls in 2016–2017. In the workplace, accepted lost-time claims due to falls totalled 47,152 in 2019—roughly 17–18% of all lost-time claims that year.
The right footwear can help reduce your risk of slipping on icy outdoor surfaces and wet indoor floors. At RateMyTreads, we use evidence-based footwear testing to help you make informed choices about traction and slip resistance.
Because everyone deserves to move with greater confidence, wherever life takes them.
About The KITE Research Institute
The KITE Research Institute is the research arm of the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute at the University Health Network located in Toronto. KITE is home to WinterLab, which originally opened as part of the IDAPT (Intelligent Design for Adaptation, Participation and Technology) Centre for Rehabilitation. The KITE Research Institute began the process of retiring the iDAPT name and brand in 2019.
KITE works with a broad range of clinicians, engineers, scientists, researchers, students and more to find practical solutions to common problems. We care about slips, trips and falls and their impact on a person's mobility and quality of life.
The researchers at KITE had a vision and a belief: we believe that choosing the right footwear can reduce and prevent unintentional slips and falls. And like all great scientists, we researched to understand more about the problem and tackled it to find a solution. The outcome? The world’s only human oriented slip resistant testing method done in a real winter environment – our Maximum Achievable Angle (MAA) Test.
About RampLab
Inside RampLab, researchers explore the complex dynamics of footwear slip resistance in a controlled environment. The lab allows scientists and companies to study how footwear and flooring materials perform under different conditions, helping to better understand the factors that contribute to slips and falls.
Research conducted in RampLab supports the development of safer, more slip-resistant footwear, improved flooring materials, and innovative products designed to reduce the risk of preventable slip and fall injuries.
By using RampLab, researchers and industry partners can scientifically test and refine their products to help create safer footwear and flooring solutions.
About WinterLab
Inside WinterLab, is where all the magic happens. We do all our experiments and testing inside this 5 meter by 5 meter room that is attached to the top of the motion base. It is a whole different world inside the lab – with its floor made entirely of ice, below 0 temperatures, and winds up to 30 km per hour! Scientists can study winter slips and falls and the extremes of cold air and wind, without exposing participants to the risks in real life. At The KITE Research Institute, we can experience winter all year round!
Come visit us for a CHILLY tour inside the WinterLab. Don't forget to bring a coat!
About CEAL
At The KITE Research Institute, we have the Challenging Environment Assessment Laboratory (or CEAL for short) which has a set of labs that can recreate real world environments and test challenges that people face in their everyday lives, such as simulating driving in downtown Toronto or the hazards of Canadian winters.
The labs allow researchers to safely and accurately measure the difficulties encountered in the real world and is commonly used to evaluate the impact of new treatments, devices and technologies. What makes CEAL unique is the motion base that has a 6 metre by 6 metre moving floor. This large platform can move up, down, side to side, forwards and backwards.
It can even tilt up to an angle of 25 degrees! The interchangeable labs can be attached on top of the motion base to simulate a variety of different environments. We currently have 4 different interchangeable labs (StairLab, StreetLab, DriverLab, and WinterLab) that can be attached, and inside our WinterLab is where we do all our slip resistance testing.