FOOT PROTECTION

What is Foot Protection?

Foot Protection or Safety shoes: Foot Protection is a Guard against foot injuries. In Construction activities Foot Protection is very important, manual handling of heavy objects, and jobs requiring working in extremely hot or cold temperatures and with chemicals often result in trauma to the feet or legs. Foot protection helps prevent hazards such as extreme temperatures, piercing, crushing, cutting, slipping, and chemical and electrical damage exposed to by these jobs.

Foot Protection: Safety shoes, boots, and toe guards for foot safety.

Categories of Foot Protection

There are two common categories of foot protection, they both offer a variety of protection, these are:

• Safety boots and shoes

– They come with slip-resistant soles, penetration-resistant midsoles, protective toe caps.

• Wellington boots

– These are suitable for people who work in wet conditions, they are normally made from rubber, they also come with slip-resistant soles, penetration-resistant midsoles, protective toe caps.

Foot for Your Work Protections

The employer must make sure that each affected employee uses protective footwear/ Foot Protection when working in areas where there is a danger of foot injuries due to the following:
• Falling or rolling objects;
• Objects piercing the sole; and/or
• Where feet are exposed to electrical hazards.

Criteria For Protective Footwear

Protective footwear or Foot Protection purchased after July 5, 1994, must comply with ANSI Z41-1991, ANSI Z41- 1999, or ASTM F-2413-2005, “Standard Specification for Performance Requirements for Protective Footwear” (before July 5, 1994 – ANSI Z41.1-1967) or must be demonstrated by the employer to be equally effective. Footwear that meets established safety standards will have an American National Standards Institute (ANSI) label inside each shoe.

Types Of Footwear

________________________________________
1. Steel-Reinforced Safety Shoes:

These shoes protect feet from common machinery hazards such as falling or rolling objects, cuts, and punctures. The entire toe box and insole are reinforced with steel, and the instep is protected by steel, aluminum, or plastic materials. Safety shoes are also designed to insulate against temperature extremes and may be equipped with unique soles to guard against slips, chemicals, and/or electrical hazards.

2. Safety Boots:

Safety boots offer more protection when splash or spark hazards (chemicals, molten materials) are present.
• When working with corrosives, caustics, cutting oils, and petroleum products, neoprene or nitrile boots are often required to prevent penetration.
• Foundry or “Gaiter” style boots feature quick-release fasteners or elasticized insets to allow speedy removal should any hazardous substances get into the boot.
• Special electrical hazard boots are available when working with electricity and are designed with no conductive materials other than the steel toe (which is properly insulated).

Electrical Protective Equipment :

All electrical protective equipment there is Foot Protection Andmust be maintained in a safe and reliable condition to prevent injury from exposure to electrical conductors. Electrical protective equipment includes the following:
• Insulating blankets;
• Covers;
• Line hose;
• Gloves; and Safety shoes or Foot Protection
• Sleeves made of rubber.

All electrical protective equipment made of rubber should meet the established safety standards and specifications discussed below.
Inspecting Equipment: To ensure electrical protective equipment performs as designed, it must be inspected for damage before each day’s use and immediately following any incident that can reasonably be suspected of having caused damage. Insulating gloves must be given an air test along with the inspection.

Defects:

Insulating equipment must not be used if any of the following defects are detected:
• a hole, tear, puncture , or cut ( Foot Protection);
• ozone cutting or ozone checking (the cutting action produced by ozone on rubber under mechanical stress into a series of interlacing cracks);
• an embedded foreign object;
• changes in the texture,, including swelling, softening, hardening, or becoming sticky or inelastic; or
• any other defect that damages the insulating properties.

Electrical Protective Gloves:

Protector gloves must be worn over insulating gloves. An exception is using Class 0 gloves under limited-use conditions, where small equipment and parts manipulation necessitate unusually high finger dexterity. But, it’s important to note that extra care must be taken while visually examining the glove. Also, make sure to avoid handling sharp objects.
Any other glove class may be used for similar work without protector gloves if the employer can demonstrate that the possibility of physical damage to the gloves is slight and if the glove class is one class higher than that required for the voltage involved. Insulating gloves that have been used without protector gloves may not be used at a higher voltage until they have been tested.
Testing: Electrical protective equipment must be subjected to periodic electrical tests. Maximum
intervals between tests must be by the following table.

If the insulating equipment has been electrically tested but not issued for service, the
insulating equipment may not be placed into service unless it has been electrically tested within the previous 12 months.