Healthy,
Safe and
Productive Lives

Information Provided with Slip Resistant Footwear

Designers, manufacturers, importers and suppliers have responsibilities under the 2005 Act to provide or arrange for adequate up-to-date information on proper use, maintenance and cleaning of footwear
Employers have responsibilities to provide information, instruction and training
Personal Protective Equipment is deemed to be in conformity with the European Communities (Personal Protective Equipment ) Regulations 1993 if it bears the CE mark
Slip-resistant footwear should have further useful information including work environments for which it most suited

Survey of Workplace Safety Footwear in Ireland

In 2012/3, HSA Inspectors sampled 22 pieces of workplace safety footwear to review claims and/or advice on slip-resistance.

Safety footwear surveyed

Inspectors found that 15 of 22 pieces (68%) of footwear sampled made some slip- resistance claim, including...

2 claimed "SRA"- indicating a test on ceramic tile with dilute soap solution,
8 claimed "SRC" and 1 claimed "SRA+SRB" - indicating a test on ceramic tile with dilute soap solution AND on smooth steel with glycerol
4 made some other slip-resistance claim (including "antislip", "slip resistant" and "will offer some reduction to the risks of slipping")
7 samples of footwear with a slip-resistance claim had no additional information relevant to that slip-resistance claim
73% of footwear with a slip-resistance claim had no information on appropriate/ inappropriate environments

“No indication of slip resistance was given for 47% of footwear products”
“Footwear suppliers use a variety of terms to describe their products, e.g. ‘slip-resistant’, ‘anti-slip’, ‘improving grip performance’ etc, and these can often mislead customers”
“… many manufacturers and suppliers do not give helpful additional information, such as the degree of slip resistance and the types of work environment for which their products are most suited”
“Footwear and flooring suppliers should be influenced to place more emphasis on the slip resistance of their products, and to use more standardised ways of assessing slip resistance; this would allow customers to make comparisons and help them to select the most appropriate product for their needs”