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MANUFACTURING & MATERIALS INNOVATION
WF
24
S
lipping is the most common form of industrial
accident. While most falls are not often serious, some
are and can lead to long term health problems and
possible loss of job. Most of us in the northern hemisphere
tend to think of slippery conditions as being associated with
icy roads and pavements in the winter months. Slippery
floors, however, occur everywhere in the world and are an
everyday hazard for people working in hotels, kitchens,
restaurants and laundries. They can take the form of wet or
greasy floors, brightly polished stairs and entrances, or other
routes with slippery surfaces used by waiters, room service
staff, cooks and other members of staff.
Timberland is an acknowledged market leader in the
design, manufacture and marketing of rugged outdoor
footwear. It therefore has years of experience in providing a
sure footing for its customers on difficult surfaces. This
experience has now been put to use in its footwear designed
for industrial use and a good example of this is the PRO
range of shoes specifically aimed at the hotel industry where
people are often on their feet all day and require superior
comfort, as well as confidence in regard to slippery or shiny
surfaces.
In developing this range of shoes, the company has
worked side by side with BASF Polyurethanes in finding a
soling material that would provide exceptionally high
standards of occupational safety. The answer was found in
BASF’s Elastopan PU and Elastollan TPU ranges of
compounds. These were found to offer outstanding abrasion
resistance for extra-long life, excellent flexing properties for
comfortable movement throughout the day and outstanding
grip on the extremely slippery surfaces often encountered in
hotel kitchens and laundries.
ELASTOPAN SYSTEMS
A decisive factor in achieving good synergy between
shoes and feet is an appropriate choice of materials.
Elastopan is a remarkably flexible material in this regard as
it offers almost unlimited design scope in terms of shape,
DON’T SLIP UP
Bekina Thermolite PU working boot – wet grass
can be slippery.
IMAGE: BEKINA