Guarding

Safety footwear

by Mark Rowe

As the Health and Safety Executive points out, slips and trips account for the majority of major injuries in the workplace. Staffordshire safety footwear firm Gorilla Safety Footwear, says that it is striving to educate people on specific safety standards to enable them to select suitable footwear to avoid the most common types of workplace injuries.

As an example of the scale of injuries, throughout 2013 there were 78,222 reported non-fatal injuries to employees. 19,707 of these were reported as major injuries, with the most common being accidents involving slips and trips (43 per cent), followed by falls from a height (13 per cent). The former can be largely reduced should the correct safety footwear be implemented into the workplace, according to the firm.

When sourcing safety footwear, whether safety boots, safety shoes or safety trainers are required, the soles of safety footwear should carry one of three certifications, dependent on where they are to be worn. Footwear carrying the term SRA means that it has been developed and tested to resist slipping on ceramic surfaces with ‘soap’. SRB means that the footwear has been developed to resist slipping on steel with glycerol, and safety footwear carrying an SRC certification means that it has been tested and developed to resist both, resulting in safety footwear with extremely good slip resistance, the firm says.

Gorilla Safety Footwear’s Clive Astin said: “Of course, when we think about safety footwear, the first thing that comes to mind is protecting against falling objects with steel or composite toecaps and metatarsal protectors, and protection from penetration with midsole protection. However, when one considers the magnitude of injuries from slips and trips, selecting a capable slip resistant sole is of utmost importance”. He added; “With a little more consideration when buying safety boots, safety shoes and safety trainers, there’s no doubt about it that the vast proportion of accidents attributed to slips and trips can be avoided.” Visit www.gorillasafetyfootwear.co.uk.

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