Safety Standards For Our Footwear 

At Hard Yakka, our commitment to safety is unwavering, and our safety footwear lineup is no exception. All our products adhere to the rigorous Australian Safety Standard AS 2210.3:2019, ensuring top-quality protection for workers in diverse environments. 

In Australia, safety footwear refers to protective shoes or boots designed to minimize the risk of injuries in the workplace or other hazardous environments. Australian safety footwear must comply with the relevant Australian/New Zealand standards, specifically AS/NZS 2210.3:2009, which provide guidelines for design, construction, and performance of these types of footwear. 

Key features of safety footwear include a protective toe cap (often made of steel or composite materials), slip-resistant soles, puncture-resistant materials, and adequate support for the foot and ankle. Some footwear may also include additional features like electrical hazard protection, metatarsal guards, or static dissipative properties, depending on the specific work environment and potential hazards. 

At Hard Yakka, our commitment to safety is unwavering, and our safety footwear lineup is no exception. All our products adhere to the rigorous Australian Safety Standard AS 2210.3:2019, ensuring top-quality protection for workers in diverse environments. 

All certified Hard Yakka protective safety styles, and other footwear that certified occupational styles, are type tested and manufactured under Product Certification requirements monitored by BSI to ensure that the manufacturing process at each certified facility has the capability to produce certified products in compliance with each product’s specified certification requirements.  

All testing is conducted by an independent quality registered laboratory both locally and overseas.  

Guidance on selection, care, and use of safety, protective or occupational footwear can be found at AS 2210.3:2019 (safety, protective and occupational footwear). 

SLIP RESISTANCE  

This product has been tested in accordance with EN ISO 20345:2011. 

The slip resistance was measured under different conditions. The following marking symbols apply.  

SRA Exceeds the minimum requirements tested on a ceramic tile with sodium lauryl sulphate

SRB Exceeds the minimum requirements tested on steel with glycerol

SRC Exceeds both SRA and SRB requirements

ANTI-STATIC FOOTWEAR  

Antistatic footwear should be used if it is necessary to minimise electrostatic build-up by dissipating Electrostatic charges, thus avoiding the risk of spark ignition of, for example flammable substances and vapours, and if the risk of electric shock from any electrical apparatus or live parts has not been completely eliminated. It should be noted, however, that antistatic footwear cannot guarantee an adequate protection against electric shock as it introduces only a resistance between foot and floor. If the risk of electric shock has not been completely eliminated, additional measures to avoid this risk are essential. Such measures, as well as the additional tests mentioned below, should be a routine part of the accident prevention programme at the workplace.  

Experience has shown that, for antistatic purposes, the discharge path through a product should normally have an electrical resistance of less than 1000 MΩ at any time throughout its useful life. A value of 100 kΩ is specified as the lowest limit of resistance of a product when new, in order to ensure some limited protection against dangerous electric shock or ignition in the event of any electrical apparatus becoming defective when operating at voltages of up to 250 V. However, under certain conditions, users should be aware that the footwear might give inadequate protection and additional provisions to protect the wearer should be taken at all times.

ELECTRICAL HAZARD (EH)  

Footwear marked as EH meet the testing requirement of ASTM F2413-11 Clause 5.5. Designed and manufactured to be used as a secondary source of electrical hazard protection against the hazards coming into contact with live electrical circuits, electrically charged conductors, parts or apparatus.  

Footwear marked as EH have been tested and shown to withstand the application of 18,000 V at 60 Hz for a period of 1 minute with no current flow or leakage in excess of 1.0 mA in dry laboratory conditions. EH footwear should not be worn in explosive or hazardous areas where conductive or anti-static is required.  

Electrically conductive footwear should be used if it is necessary to minimize electrostatic charges in the shortest possible time, e.g. when handling explosives. Electrically conductive footwear should not be used if the risk of shock from any electrical apparatus or live parts has not been completely eliminated. In order for to ensure that this footwear is conductive, it has been specified to have an upper limit of resistance of 100 kΩ in its new state.  

During service, the electrical resistance of footwear made from conducting material can change significantly due to flexing and contamination, and it is necessary to ensure that the product is capable of fulfilling its designed function of dissipating electrostatic charges during its entire life. Where necessary, it is therefore recommended that the user establish an in-house test for electrical resistance and use it at regular intervals. This test and those mentioned below should be a routine part of the accident prevention programme at the workplace.  

If the footwear is worn in conditions where the soling material becomes contaminated with substances that can increase the electrical resistance of the footwear, wearers should always check the electrical properties of their footwear before entering a hazard area.  

Where conductive footwear is in use, the resistance of the flooring should be such that it does not invalidate the protection provided by the footwear.  

EH Protection is severely deteriorated in the following conditions: 

- Excessive wear of the soling material or exposure to wet and humid environments or both. 

- Where footwear becomes contaminated with conductive materials 

EH shoes should be used as the primary source of protection in an electrical hazard environment. 

PENETRATION RESISTANT 

Penetration resistant footwear has been measured in the laboratory using a truncated nail of diameter 4.5mm and a force of 1100 N. Higher forces or nails of smaller diameter will increase the risk of penetration occurring. In such circumstances alternative preventative measures should be considered. Two generic types of penetration resistant inserts are currently available in PPE footwear. These are metal types and those from non-metal materials. Both types meet the minimum requirements for penetration resistance of the standard marked on this footwear but each has different additional advantages or disadvantages including the following: