Just in case anyone wants to step back (or recoil) from the daily news spew, you know, get away from the daily ‘Donald Trump tweeted this or that’ and coverage of the casting calls to fill his horror-show administration. If that’s the case, then take a load off your feet, slip away for a moment because here’s a bit of practical, perhaps slightly political news from our surefooted neighbors in Canada.

At the WinterLab at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute researchers have studied, tested, and are now providing traction rating for footwear in slippery conditions. In Ontario 2015 accidents involving slipping on ice sent 21,000 people to the hospital. Here in the USA during 2014 there were 34,860 same-level workplace injuries (not from heights) related to ice, snow, and sleet that required at least one day to recover away from work. Canadian researchers discovered that most winter boots sold in Canada (and probably the US) won’t keep you upright in slippery situations.

To test the boots, researchers asked people to walk, first on a level surface covered with ice, then on an increasing incline, first of two to three degrees, and then up to seven to 10 degrees. Then they tested the same boots on wet ice. The boot testers wore a harness as they walked, so when they slipped they didn’t fall. Of 98 models of boots the lab tested on ice and wet ice, only nine passed a slip test.

The top-rated boots got a single snowflake out of three. That meant they gripped when walking up a seven-degree incline, while most of the boots failed to keep people from falling.

Here’s a link to WinterLab’s top rated shoes and boots.

Remember: tread carefully, double-check footwear to avoid costly slip-and-fall-related medical injuries — because Trump is coming for our healthcare coverage after all. It’s winter in America and the social safety net is about to have more holes cut into it. One fall and the medical bills could land many people in the poorhouse, or its modern equivalent, foreclosure and bankruptcy.

Now, better rejoin regular coverage of Trump’s horror show –because it’s still going on.