S A F E T Y
SKELLERUP
TOUGHER THAN EVER
Skellerup’s products have
always had a reputation
for being tough, and that’s
certainly true of its latest
release – the Red Band Safety
gumboot.
For Perry Davis, the company’s
national manager, it’s an exciting
development in the on-going
evolution of one of New Zealand’s
best loved and most iconic brands.
“Protective wear is a key component
of any workplace health and safety
plan, particularly in industrial
settings”, he says. “Red Band Safety
has been designed to combine
legendary Red Band quality and
durability with a high level of foot
protection and stability. The aim
was to make it possible for workers
to get on with their day knowing
they’ve minimised the risk of injury
on the job.”
The new Red Band is knee high, with
an external leg trim line so it can
be easily converted to calf length.
The steel toe cap protects the foot
from crushing, and the nitrile rubber
outsole is resistant to oil, acid, heat
and electrical hazard.
For further protection, there’s a
steel shank in the base of the boot
to guard against penetration, and
an antislip outsole which has been
tested extensively on wet ceramic
tile flooring. Like all Red Bands, the
safety gumboot is hand-built from
UV resistant natural rubber, with a
hard-wearing internal cotton canvas
bonded lining and a 5mm rubber
sponge insole.
“Health and safety is all about
hazard management and mitigation
to prevent workplace injury, and
one of the simplest steps to take –
quite literally – is to wear the right
footwear”, says Mr Davis. “It’s a
routine, everyday choice that can
make a huge difference, not just in
terms of direct foot injuries from
crushing or penetration, but also
slips and falls.”
There are good legal and financial
reasons in support of protective
footwear too, with businesses facing
heavy fines for failing to keep staff
safe at work.
Anyone who has ever been unable
to walk properly, even for a short
time, knows how critical their feet
are when it comes to being fit
for both work, and life in general.
Of course, that’s not altogether
surprising when you consider the
fact that the human foot, despite
being one of the smaller parts of our
body, plays host to no fewer than 28
different bones. Together, both feet
contain more than a quarter of all of
our bones.
And let’s not forget all of the other
elements that keep us standing tall
and moving well on two feet – in
total, 66 joints, and more than 200
tendons, muscles and ligaments,
not to mention blood vessels and
about 8000 nerves.
“In other words, there’s a lot of
intricate and important anatomy
worth protecting between your
ankle and the tip of your big toe,
especially when you’re constantly
on the go,” says Mr Davis.
Red Band Safety gumboots
are available in sizes 4-14 from
safety stores now; look for special
introductory offers.
34 June 2019