Safety Shoes-The First Line Of Defense against Foot Injuries

Industrial workers engaged in industries such as petrochemicals and oil & gas are exposed to the dangers of accidents of accidents on a daily basis. As an operations manager, your main aim is to ensure a high level of efficiency of productivity without exposing your workers to any type of dangers. Safety shoes are one of the most primary items that they will require staying on the move while working in oil excavation sites and refineries. Aware of the challenges & myths faced by industrial workers, safety shoes manufacturers across different parts of the world have come up with many new characteristics to meet the needs of buyers.


Keeping the hot and humid conditions in which technicians and engineers work, pioneers in the safety products industry have equipped their shoes with comfortable fabric linings to make them sweat and odour free. In addition to this feature, Allen Cooper safety shoes come with nail guard anti-perforation mid-sole. They also feature a single density PU outsole, molded in-sock which offers a high level of convenience. The out sole of these footwear has anti-static, anti-slip, oil and heat resistant properties. The pairs have a Moccasin design and ensure a high level of agility in challenging working conditions.

But for first time buyers, selecting safety shoes can be a bit of a challenge at the initial stage. If you are one of them, then electricity compliance would be one of the most important factors that you will need to concentrate upon. There is always a high risk of workers getting exposed to electrical currents at the excavation sites or in refineries. Therefore, you need to look for boots that comply with the latest ISI standards and can offer protection to high voltage, open electric currents to your personnel at work.

Metatarsal injuries are some of the most common foot injuries that industrial workers suffer from. The recovery process in case of such injuries is quite time-consuming. Shoes that come with steel toes do not offer metatarsal protection. Therefore, you will need to look for a pair which can offer protection to this part of the user’s body. A number of safety shoes available online come with a shield-like feature that offers a composite toe and extends to the top of the instep. As a result, the user can be safe from any impact felt on his foot while he is on the move.







Check whether the instep has a proper fitting or not. It should be too tight or loose. Pairs that come with loose insteps cause excessive slipping on the heel. Doing so will also ensure that your workers do not experience heel and toe pan which they normally doing while wearing shoes with tight insteps. You will need to take into account the different widths available to select a shoe with the perfect fitting instep. At the initial stage, users are likely to experience slight slippage in the heel area. But it will subside with time and disappear completely.

What Are The Standards In Personal Protection Equipment?

Personal Protection Equipment provides workers protection from the dangers they face in the line of work. It is mandated by law that every employer should provide these devices to their employees if their job involves risk of injury. Within PPE there are several categories:
  • Skin protection
  • Head protection
  • Leg protection
  • Eye and face protection
  • Hearing protection
  • Respiratory protection

Standards in Personal Protection Equipment

Standards in personal protection equipment are there to ensure that the equipment passes several tests before making it into market. In India, govt insists that PPE should meet certain criteria regarding quality. They are:
  • Providing full protection: The device in question should provide complete protection from the danger.
  • The product should be made of material that can withstand the danger.
PPE should be selected after considering the severity of the danger involved in the job. The nature of the work and the type of harmful substance should be thoroughly considered before selecting the product.

Categories

PPE can be divided into two categories
  1. Non-respiratory: Non-respiratory PPE include safety helmets, safety jackets, safety shoes, safety hand gloves and safety spectacles. These products protect different parts of the human body.
  2. Respiratory: These include PPE used for protecting someone from inhaling contaminated air. Respiratory masks are included here.

Standards in Head Protection

 

Head protection is the backbone of PPE. There are four classes of safety helmets.
  • Class A: Helmets in this category do not provide much safety against electricity.
  • Class B: Head protection equipment belonging to this class offer high voltage resistance.
  • Class C: These helmets do not offer voltage protection.
  • Class D: Protection in firefighting is limited.
Helmets used for scooter and bike riding are called crash helmets and their standards is IS 4151-1993, while the industrial safety helmets come under IS 2925-1984. Standard for firemen’s helmet is IS 2745-1983.
Safety shoes

Safety shoes are the next most important PPE. These protective shoes have steel reinforcement around the toe area, so that they provide protection against piercing and compression.

  1. Standard for leather safety shoes and boots is IS: 1989 (Part-1 & 2)-1986. This protective gear should be ankle high. They also should have steel toe-cap.
  2. Standard for leather boots for firemen is IS: 4128-1980.
  3. Electrical Safety shoes: Though a standard for such safety shoes are being developed IS: 4770-1968 offers a standard for testing protective equipment for electrical work environments.

Body Protection

PPE under this category includes safety jacks and also complete head-to-toe protective suits. Such suits offer protection from a variety of dangers including exposure to harmful chemicals and radioactive materials.