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
The consciousness of steel toe protection for the workplace has been raised up dramatically in the last few years as employers seek to increase the safety of their workplace. Many businesses that previously did not consider themselves as being one to require steel toe protection have since realized the need for this in order to further reduce the risk of injuries to their employees. Passage of the PPE standards as well as the rising costs of Workman’s Compensation Insurance have fueled this realization that the toes do need to be protected in virtually every work environment. The risk of toe and foot injury to someone without steel toe protection has become a risk that employers just cannot afford to take.
But what about those who visit your facility? The sales professionals, contractors, advisors, financial people etc. who enter your facility? As both a practical matter and a matter of safety, these people need to be afforded the same protection as your workers do if they are in fact entering the workplace. “Wait a minute, is that practical? How can I afford to buy dozens of sizes of steel toe boots just for my visitors? And what about sanitary considerations? Who wants to stick their foot into a steel toe boot that goodness knows who was wearing earlier in the day? ”
Reasonable questions that until a few years ago did not have a reasonable, and affordable, solution to them. The original OSHATOES(TM) steel toe over-the-shoe slip on rubber is the alternative to steel toe boots. This product is gender neutral, provides the same steel toe protection as the steel toe boots, and is inexpensive. Because it goes over the wearer’s shoes or athletic shoes, there are no sanitary issues from one person to another.
OSHATOES(TM) also provide relief to those afflicted with foot problems such as hammertoe, bunions, or have foot problems because of degenerative diseases such as diabetes.
OSHATOES(TM) were intentionally created for just this scenario, the factory or workplace visitor who needs steel toe protection in order to enter the workplace on a temporary basis. There are 6 standard sizes for both men and women that will provide your visitors with the steel protection that they need, and enable you to provide the safe workplace that you want to, and will not cost you an arm, or, a ‘leg’.
You can learn more about OSHATOES protective overshoes at oshatoes.com
Yes, there IS a comfortable PPE footwear product that will give the wearer the same steel toe protection as that of steel toe boots, but without the weight to drag around all day, without the steel toecap rubbing on your toes, and WITH the comfort of your own favorite work-shoes.
OSHATOES™ are an alternative over the shoe style steel toe protection product that you wear over your own comfortable shoes, athletic style footwear, or boots. They are a rubber galosh into which has been embedded an steel toe cap, the same exact type of cap used in those heavy and hard to wear boots. But, instead of being over the sock, like the boots, this product is over the shoe.
Lightweight, averaging about 12 ounces per foot, easy to use, non-shedding, flexible and stretchable, these will fit almost everybody, man or woman. In fact, because they are worn over the shoe, there are no sanitary issues among wearers, and therefore are ideal for factory visitors, temporary workers, and most of all, those of us who have to work all day in our own ’salt mines’.
This product provides the same level of safety as do the boots, but also provides the relief so direly needed by those who are afflicted with diabetes, hammer toe, plantar fasciitis or other debilitating foot problems.
The OSHATOES™ product was invented in 1998 and has been used around the world by hundreds of thousands of people. A comfortable addition to your required PPE.
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OSHATOES have been used by tens of thousands of individuals, many of which had foot pain and were seeking relief from the typical steel toe shoe or boot. For more information please visit www.oshatoes.com.
Diabetic foot problems can be one of the most costly, serious, and damaging effects of this insidious disease.Add to that the recent mandates by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration that have increased the levels of Personal Protection Equipment required in more and more workplaces, with the emphasis on steel toe protection requirements, and the result is literally a crippling of affected workers who must comply in order to sustain their livelihood.
The standard steel toe boot, shoe, or athletic footwear is literally a dramatic source of pain to the diabetic worker. The majority of foot or leg diabetic amputations begin with ulcers, with only 2/3 of these ulcers expected to ever heal. And, the average healing time is six months. This can be devastating to a person afflicted with diabetes who must maintain their job while being required to also have steel toe protection as part of the job’s PPE requirement.
The typical steel toe footwear is heavy, bulky, and most often will rub or wear on the individuals foot or toes, increasing the possibility of ulcers and certainly not enabling their healing if already present.
As an alternative to the typical steel toe footwear, an over-the-shoe steel toe galosh has become a source of relief for diabetic workers. This product is basically a rubber galosh into which has been cemented a steel or composite toecap. The steel or composite toe caps are the exactly the same as those found in the typical boots, but now can be worn over the individuals own comfortable footwear. This relieves the stress of the caps rubbing on the individuals foot because it is worn over the shoe, and helps to eliminate or prevent aggravation to the foot caused by the constant rubbing of the toe caps against the toes or foot.
Meeting all the standards as set forth by O.S.H.A. for steel toe protection, this simple product has provided relief and comfort to thousands of those workers affected by diabetes, enabling their off-work quality of life to be less affected by their on the job time.
An inexpensive preventative solution for the diabetic foot in today’s workplace.
To learn more about how the OSHATOES brand of protective footwear can help workers with diabetes work more comfortably you can visit www.oshatoes.com
The need for comfortable and reliable steel toe foot protection is not restricted to workers in the manufacturing workplace by any means. Although that may be the ‘typical’ use of steel toe protection you may think of at first, there are so many more needs outside that work environment for that same type of foot protection.
The obvious situations come quickly to mind, such as construction workers, steel workers, utility workers, loggers, and so on. But what about the greenskeepers manicuring the golf course with a revved up weed whacker? What about the casual woodcutter splitting that cord of oak wood in their driveway? The landscaper building the stone retaining wall for you in the back yard? The roofer carrying bundles of shingles from the pickup truck?
These are just a few of the hundreds of unthought of activities that should seriously consider either using or providing steel toe protection. Add to these the need for those site visitors that they may expect to have come to their job site, and the need accelerates even more.
Moving that old dresser from Grandma’s house? Bringing in that new washer and dryer for the laundry room that you bought from the warehouse store? What about the carpenter, professional or otherwise, who builds the new deck using that new pneumatic nail gun?
The vast majority of injuries occur either off-work or at home, and preventable foot injuries are high on that list. “Oh, but it will only take a second” can lead to a 6 hour wait and a $500.00 bill from the Emergency Room.
An ounce of prevention is truly worth a pound of cure, and the thought to use steel toe protection, or some of the alternative steel toe protection products now on the market, for any potentially dangerous task outside the home or workplace environment should be held high in your awareness. Get rid of the ‘I should have….’ and use the ‘I’m going to…..’
A practical solution for outdoor safety shoes is the product line OSHATOES, a steel toe protective overshoe, you can learn more about these products at www.oshatoes.com
A new product has arrived that solves a metal detection problem for visitors and workers who must have steel toe protection, but must also work around or go through metal detectors as part of their workday. The OSHATOES Composite Toecap over-the-shoe alternative to steel toe protection was recently introduced by www.oshatoes.com, a long-time supplier of over-the-shoe steel toe alternative footwear.
This product meets or exceeds the ASTM F 2413-05 current standard toe protection, the standard being based on 75 pounds impact or compression.
Composite toe footwear has long been available, but what makes this product unique is that it is worn OVER the shoe instead of the composite toecap being inside the shoe, against the wearer’s foot and toes. This brings both tremendous comfort and relief as well as the convenience of a slip-on to the visitor or worker. Now, the worker can be more comfortable working all day in their metal-free enviroment, wearing their composite toecap slip-ons over their own personal footwear. Visitors also now can more easily be granted access to the facility without the hassle of having to remove their steel toe shoes or boots, or even their regular shoes, assuming that they do not have metal eyelets or steel shanks.
Lightweight, made from 100% natural latex-free rubber with the composite toecap molded in, this product will definitely make the workday easier for those who need toe protection.
To learn more about composite protective overshoes you can visit www.oshatoes.com
