Work Safety & Toe Protection

Arc flash preventative footwear

The awareness for Arc flash hazard has increased in recent years, and both the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the National Fire Protection Association have issued mandates for providing workers with protection in the workplace against the Arc flash hazard.  Additionally, the Institute of Electronics and Electrical Engineers has provided guidelines and calculation standards to quantify the level of Arc flash hazards in the workplace.

The ‘arc flash hazard’ is defined as a dangerous condition associated with the discharge of electrical energy caused by an electrical arc.   The amount of discharge can be quite minor, requiring little protection, or quite major, involving areas as far away as ten feet from the arc, requiring considerable levels of protection to be instituted.

Personal Protection Equipment is required for those with a potential of exposure to an arc flash hazard, and as a part of that overall composure, most standards also require steel toe protection for the workers as well.  This can be a problem in itself, as the steel toe in the safety boot can be a source of grounding for an arc flash.   Composite toe cap  footwear is now widely available but is generally expensive and not always comfortable for the wearer.

A possible solution to this is the over the shoe Composite toe cap safety toe alternative recently introduced by OSHATOES™.  This consists of a laminated composite toecap embedded within an over the shoe 100% natural rubber galosh or ‘rubber’ that workers can wear over their own compliant footwear that does not have steel toes.  The toecap has met or exceeded the ASTM 2413-05 standard for Impact and Compression (75 pounds), and is available at a very reasonable price.   It is a low cost solution to enhancing the safety of the worker in the workplace who may be exposed to varying levels of Arc Flash Hazard.

You can find composite toecap safety overshoes online at www.oshatoes.com