The aim of this study was to determine the impact of three commonly used underground mining
boots on comfort and gait characteristics when compared to a control condition. Finding the
footwear that least impacts gait characteristics should aid in limiting worker exposure to STF and
injury risk. To accomplish this objective, this major paper begins with a literature review
(Section 2) of STF risks in mining, gait characteristics and the influence of work boot factors on
gait and comfort. In Section 3 laboratory methods used to evaluate gait and perceived comfort
when wearing mining boots are presented and findings are shared in Section 4. Further
discussion on relevance of this work to underground miners, work boot manufacturers, and
health and safety practitioners is presented in Section 5 along with recommendations for future
research and knowledge dissemination.
