Safety: Cute shoes OMG!
Jun. 10th, 2009 06:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
labricoleuseOne of the most frequently-broken OSHA regulations in professional costume shops is that of required proper occupational footwear. The full standards are online at osha.gov, but essentially, if a workplaces has "a danger of foot injuries due to falling or rolling objects, or objects piercing the sole, and where such employee's feet are exposed to electrical hazards," it's the employer's responsibility to insure that the employees have on protective footwear in the workplace. Shears, needles, and pins can all pierce the sole of the foot if they fall onto the floor, and have you ever dropped an iron? Many costume facilities also have rolling elements, from dress forms to movable tables to sewing stations on casters. So yes, we qualify.
Many costume shop employees really hate this regulation, too, because we're all in a field which celebrates the unusual and stylish modes of dress and adornment throughout history; costumers are drawn to interesting footwear styles and some want to wear them to work, regardless of safety. Trouble is, that'll get an employer written up in a safety inspection, and if an injury happens due to improper footwear (such as, a stitcher drops a pair of shears and the blades puncture their foot, or a stock manager breaks some toes because s/he rolls a full rack of costumes over them), the workman's comp claim is a sure-fire way to gain OSHA's scrutiny.
Don't get me wrong; i love a cute shoe, an impractical shoe, a sexy shoe, a fancy shoe, you name it...boots, too! Honestly, i have in my time worn quite possibly some of the world's most impractical footwear. (I was all about the laughably-high platforms while nightclubbing in the 1990s.) And, there are definitely times and places in one's career as a professional costumer for the cute, impractical, fancy, sexy footwear. Opening night galas, for instance.
But here's my take on it:
As costumers, we're always grousing about how no one in other industries or other areas of our own field ever TRULY understands the nature of our work--how difficult it is, how much education and skill and experience is required, how we're overworked and underpaid and given the lowest budgets and expected to do miracles and yet somehow, people still think we're all just "picking out clothes." This line of talk comes up all the time--at professional conventions, symposia, workshops, conferences, academic society meetings, etc. etc. etc.
I guess, for my part, I figure that if i want people to treat me like a highly skilled professional, I should present myself as one. I should show up to work every day in my ANSI-compliant footwear. Every time a tour comes through that I'm supposed to speak to about, say, our fantastic dye facility with its industrial steam-jacketed dye kettles, perhaps i should also point out the vent hoods, and that i'm wearing occupational PPEs--proper gloves, splash-proof goggles, and proper shoes. In my 19 years of professional experience, closed-toe shoes have saved me from dropped blades and other hand tools, crushed toes, and chemical and temperature burns from splattered solvents and boiling dye splashes. So me, i embrace wearing the OSHA shoes, you bet!
But, you may ask, what kind of shoes are the "right" shoes to wear?
Currently, in the USA, occupational footwear must comply with the American National Standards Institute's standard Z41-1991/1999. Those standards change over time, so it's always good to check with OSHA as to what's the currently accepted standard. Unfortunately, you can't just look that ANSI# up on the internet and see what it says--you have to buy access to ANSI standards, and generally, corporations are the ones who do that.
But you're in luck. Basically, it's not your responsibility to locate that standard and interpret it. In terms of workplace policy, it's the responsibility of your company's safety officer or facilities director or sometimes technical director to interpret the standards and set company policy of what those standards mean. In some workplaces (like probably your scene shop) workers are required to wear steel-toe lace-up boots or shoes. In dye shops, that might mean closed-toe shoes with alkali-resistant soles. Generally, a closed-toe style is going to be the minimum protection you need.
In terms of shoe-shopping, work-wise, that's another case where the guesswork has been done for you--manufacturers often will cite on their products whether they are compliant with the current standard. It's usually molded into the sole in the arch area, in fact, something like "Complies with ANSI Z41.1991" so you know you're good wearing that shoe to work. If you're a clompy combat-boot fan (as many art-school/costumer/designery types are), you probably are already familiar with that notation from the soles of your shoes.
I'm always on the lookout for good occupational footwear that i actually like. I usually have at least 3 pairs of work-appropriate shoes or boots to rotate between (since your shoes last much longer if you don't wear them every day--gives them time to completely dry out from a day's worth of sweat/moisture). In the wintertime, that's usually two pairs of ANSI-compliant cowboy boots and one pair of something like engineer boots.
In the summer though, it's much harder for me to find good shoes i like wearing to work--it's too hot for boots. When i started working at Tumbling Colors a few weeks ago, i realized that i only had one pair of appropriate shoes: a pair of steel-toe Sanita clogs. (Clogs are a very popular style choice, i've noticed, among costumers who wear occupational footwear.) Point is, i needed me a new pair of shoes!
Boy, was i excited then to find Ariat's Safety Toe Clogs last week! Good, sturdy, safety-compliant, yet kind of cool-looking shoes for tromping through puddles of caustic dyebaths [1], and being a cowboy boot fan, i'm particularly fond of the toebug-esque stitching along the top. I've worn them a couple times already and am so pleased, i was inspired to spend this much time talking about feet! :D
Anybody else got a favorite pair of work shoes or boots? Like i said, i'm always on the lookout...
[1] I think i mentioned that i oh-so-smoothly accidentally dumped an entire 5gal dyebath all over the floor when the handle on my bucket broke a couple days into the gig. Lame. But, then again, happens to the best of us, and that's what the shoes are for.
Many costume shop employees really hate this regulation, too, because we're all in a field which celebrates the unusual and stylish modes of dress and adornment throughout history; costumers are drawn to interesting footwear styles and some want to wear them to work, regardless of safety. Trouble is, that'll get an employer written up in a safety inspection, and if an injury happens due to improper footwear (such as, a stitcher drops a pair of shears and the blades puncture their foot, or a stock manager breaks some toes because s/he rolls a full rack of costumes over them), the workman's comp claim is a sure-fire way to gain OSHA's scrutiny.
Don't get me wrong; i love a cute shoe, an impractical shoe, a sexy shoe, a fancy shoe, you name it...boots, too! Honestly, i have in my time worn quite possibly some of the world's most impractical footwear. (I was all about the laughably-high platforms while nightclubbing in the 1990s.) And, there are definitely times and places in one's career as a professional costumer for the cute, impractical, fancy, sexy footwear. Opening night galas, for instance.
But here's my take on it:
As costumers, we're always grousing about how no one in other industries or other areas of our own field ever TRULY understands the nature of our work--how difficult it is, how much education and skill and experience is required, how we're overworked and underpaid and given the lowest budgets and expected to do miracles and yet somehow, people still think we're all just "picking out clothes." This line of talk comes up all the time--at professional conventions, symposia, workshops, conferences, academic society meetings, etc. etc. etc.
I guess, for my part, I figure that if i want people to treat me like a highly skilled professional, I should present myself as one. I should show up to work every day in my ANSI-compliant footwear. Every time a tour comes through that I'm supposed to speak to about, say, our fantastic dye facility with its industrial steam-jacketed dye kettles, perhaps i should also point out the vent hoods, and that i'm wearing occupational PPEs--proper gloves, splash-proof goggles, and proper shoes. In my 19 years of professional experience, closed-toe shoes have saved me from dropped blades and other hand tools, crushed toes, and chemical and temperature burns from splattered solvents and boiling dye splashes. So me, i embrace wearing the OSHA shoes, you bet!
But, you may ask, what kind of shoes are the "right" shoes to wear?
Currently, in the USA, occupational footwear must comply with the American National Standards Institute's standard Z41-1991/1999. Those standards change over time, so it's always good to check with OSHA as to what's the currently accepted standard. Unfortunately, you can't just look that ANSI# up on the internet and see what it says--you have to buy access to ANSI standards, and generally, corporations are the ones who do that.
But you're in luck. Basically, it's not your responsibility to locate that standard and interpret it. In terms of workplace policy, it's the responsibility of your company's safety officer or facilities director or sometimes technical director to interpret the standards and set company policy of what those standards mean. In some workplaces (like probably your scene shop) workers are required to wear steel-toe lace-up boots or shoes. In dye shops, that might mean closed-toe shoes with alkali-resistant soles. Generally, a closed-toe style is going to be the minimum protection you need.
In terms of shoe-shopping, work-wise, that's another case where the guesswork has been done for you--manufacturers often will cite on their products whether they are compliant with the current standard. It's usually molded into the sole in the arch area, in fact, something like "Complies with ANSI Z41.1991" so you know you're good wearing that shoe to work. If you're a clompy combat-boot fan (as many art-school/costumer/designery types are), you probably are already familiar with that notation from the soles of your shoes.
I'm always on the lookout for good occupational footwear that i actually like. I usually have at least 3 pairs of work-appropriate shoes or boots to rotate between (since your shoes last much longer if you don't wear them every day--gives them time to completely dry out from a day's worth of sweat/moisture). In the wintertime, that's usually two pairs of ANSI-compliant cowboy boots and one pair of something like engineer boots.
In the summer though, it's much harder for me to find good shoes i like wearing to work--it's too hot for boots. When i started working at Tumbling Colors a few weeks ago, i realized that i only had one pair of appropriate shoes: a pair of steel-toe Sanita clogs. (Clogs are a very popular style choice, i've noticed, among costumers who wear occupational footwear.) Point is, i needed me a new pair of shoes!
Boy, was i excited then to find Ariat's Safety Toe Clogs last week! Good, sturdy, safety-compliant, yet kind of cool-looking shoes for tromping through puddles of caustic dyebaths [1], and being a cowboy boot fan, i'm particularly fond of the toebug-esque stitching along the top. I've worn them a couple times already and am so pleased, i was inspired to spend this much time talking about feet! :D
Anybody else got a favorite pair of work shoes or boots? Like i said, i'm always on the lookout...
[1] I think i mentioned that i oh-so-smoothly accidentally dumped an entire 5gal dyebath all over the floor when the handle on my bucket broke a couple days into the gig. Lame. But, then again, happens to the best of us, and that's what the shoes are for.
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Date: 2009-06-11 03:25 am (UTC)Easy on, easy off, and can look as good with dress pants as jeans. A+++ would totally buy again except I DON'T HAVE TO because they will last a million years.