Page 51 - OHS, January/February 2021

by safety footwear providers as a means of cutting accident rates and minimizing loss.
Beware manufacturers who mass produce inexpensive foot- wear, then label it slip-proof based on superfificial or cursory test- ing methods. Safety professionals know the difffference between ordinary store-bought shoes and footwear designed specifically to withstand slippery conditions and prevent workplace accidents.
Look for a slip-resistant footwear provider that:
■ Performs whole shoe testing
■ Runs tests using a variety of contaminants, including, oil,
water, soap and grease
■ Verifies their slips scores via independent laboratory testing
■ Uses internationally recognized testing methods such as
ASTM F2913
Here are a few questions safety professionals can ask when con-
sidering a slip-resistant shoe provider:
■ What testing methods do you employ to evaluate slip
resistance?
■ What are the COF scores of the footwear?
■ What outsole tread patterns are appropriate to specific envi-
ronments (i.e., clog-resistant for food manufacturing and prepara- tion, cold formula for freezers and coolers, etc.)?
In choosing slip-resistant footwear for their workforce, em- ployers and their loss and risk managers cannot afford to play fast and loose with semantic terms where the safety of their workforce and the viability of their businesses are at stake. They
must have the proper data to carefully evaluate the slip-resistant safety of the footwear their workforce is wearing. Bottom line: always choose a trusted authority in the fifield of slip-resistant PPE footwear.
Christopher Cooper has been a member of the SFC Safety Solutions team since 2019. Chris has 20+ years experience as a professional writer for a variety of publications and has written on a wide range of topics and issues.
REFERENCES
1. https://www.sjweh.fi/show_issue.php?issue_id=335
2. https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/coefficient-of-friction
3. https://ohsonline.com/Articles/2016/11/01/Slip-Resistance.aspx
4. https://www.astm.org/standardization-news/?q=update/slip-resistance- of-footwear-ma12.html
5. https://www.astm.org/Standards/F2913.htm
6. https://ohsonline.com/Articles/2017/09/01/Stand-Your-Ground.
aspx?gc=gs_140
7. https://www.ishn.com/articles/107829-slip-sliding-away-a-guide-to-slip- resistance-in-safety-footwear
8. https://ohsonline.com/Articles/2016/11/01/Slip-Resistance.aspx 9. https://www.sjweh.fi/show_issue.php?issue_id=335
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