HEALTH & SAFETY OCTOBER 2019
BY AMY BEST
Safety footwear has moved on considerably
since the sabot, the fi rst protective boot
(more a rudimentary wooden clog),
worn by early French industrialists and,
according to some, the origin of the
word ‘sabotage’. Today, a wide range
of safety footwear is now available, providing
protection against a range of hazards to the feet
or legs including crushing, slipping, piercing,
temperatures, electricity, chemicals and cutting.
Burns from chemicals and even from common
workplace materials like cement can, and do,
happen in the workplace. For instance, earlier
this year, a chemical manufacturer in Teesside
was fi ned almost a quarter of a million pounds
after regularly exposing workers to hazardous
materials, many of which caused workers to suff er
from severe rashes. Several members of staff
were forced to stop working at the company as a
result. A damning investigation by the Health and
Safety Executive (HSE) found that the company
had multiple failings in its handling of hazardous
substances. It failed to conduct a suitable and
suffi cient risk assessment, failed to prevent the
release of hazardous substances, failed to prevent
spread of contamination, failed to properly
decontaminate and failed to have in place an
eff ective system of health surveillance.
HSE inspector Julian Nettleton said: “This
was a case where the company failed to assess the
risk and failed to implement appropriate control
38 www.manufacturingmanagement.co.uk
prachid / Alamy Stock Photo
measures to manage the risk of
exposure to these chemicals. If
this had been done, then workers
would not have been exposed to
the chemicals and suff ered harm
as a result.”
While in this instance,
protective footwear may not
have stopped the workers being
injured, and there is no evidence
that the correct PPE wasn’t
being worn, it reinforces the
dangers that are ever-present in
an industrial setting.
If the boot fi ts…
Specialist footwear to protect
an employee’s lower limbs and
feet from exposure to hazardous
chemicals will vary in terms of
the material of construction,
which needs to be resistant to
the chemical hazard and the
area covered.
It is the responsibility of
the employer to provide PPE,
including safety boots and
footwear. But with such an
abundance of safety footwear
on the market, it can often be a
daunting task to work out exactly
what your workforce needs,
and which products meet the
requirements of the tasks your
workers are involved with.
The European standard
BS EN 13832 for footwear
protecting against chemicals
has recently been updated,
including: terminology and test
methods (BS EN 13832-1:2018
replacing BS EN 13832-1:2006);
requirements for limited
contact with chemicals (BS
EN 13832-2:2018 superseding
EN 13832-2:2006); and
requirements for prolonged
contact with chemicals (BS EN
13832-3:2018 superseding BS EN
13832-3:2006).
However, the British
Standards Institution (BSI)
raised several concerns
regarding the updated standard
and voted against BS EN 13832-
2:2018 being approved as a
European standard. The council
believes that the test being
considered is too subjective and
not suffi ciently robust. Other
concerns include:
The chemical resistance test
WHERE DO
WE STAND?
Protective footwear is part
and parcel of any industrial
worker’s PPE requirements.
However, new regulations
and changing needs mean
it’s more vital than ever to
ensure the correct boot goes
on the correct foot
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