Safetytoes International Curling Competition 2009.

The 'Safetytoes International Curling Competition 2009' will be held this

weekend at the Devil's Corner ice rink in Toronto.

Contestants competing for the 'Slipp-R' Trophy

will be invited and selected from known 'Slipp-R' owners.

The event will be filmed and posted on all

Safetytoes International media outlets.

Good luck to all.

Made in Ontario - and proud of it!

How important is it these days to be able to say "Made in Ontario"?

Nobody likes protectionism and I'd include myself in that camp. However, the world is going "green" and there's no stopping that movement. The carbon footprint we make in order to conduct our business is worthy of review and comparison. Just as we ask buyers of PPE to consider the health risks associated with PVC when making their decisions, we ask them to consider how "green" is the product.

As I've mentioned before, the Slipp-R is so well engineered, and has highly desirable styling, that it is much less of a disposable item of PPE. This in itself is a "green" attribute. Why use lots of energy to make a flimsy gimmick that lasts only a few months when the same, or less energy, can be used to make a product that lasts a long time? It's just the intelligent "green" way of doing things that all environmentally-conscious manufacturers must embrace for the sake of our planet.

Our Slipp-R is "Made in Ontario" and it's there that we find other huge savings for the planet. Making the Slipp-R in Ontario means when we ship our safety overshoes to say Texas, or California, we have not dragged it all the way up from Mexico first only to send it back another couple of thousand miles down to Texas.

How much of a waste of energy is that? Obviously, we are using a lot less energy to bring the first safety overshoe to market. We knew that the market needed a safety overshoe, and noticed that nothing had changed since way back in the last century, but we were not prepared to sacrifice the environment to make a buck.

Many have asked me about this knowing that a cheaper, less responsible product would yield a bigger profit . I tell them how I decided to make the Slipp-R because of some unsafe and unscrupulous behaviour and I wasn't willing to lower my standards.

We're happy to not be so selfish and greedy!

Battle lines have been drawn.

I've noticed a lot of noise and bad blood among the exposed-toe guys lately. It appears they have fallen out with each other. The problem of course is that they all sell the same "ugly ducklings" and the only thing they have to squabble over is which one wears out the quickest!

One has recruited a daughter to combat the loss of a large customer. This has put them in an awkward place since it meant breaking one of their "principles". Before the falling out (also very public) the large customer was a major player in internet sales. This allowed the manufacturer to claim that they did not sell against their own customers. Anyway, it was a "principle" they had to break recently to bolster sales. Now the daughter has been set up to sell against her daddy's other customers.

The other company has had to admit that what they used to sell was not nearly as good as what they now sell. They switched from PVC safetytoes to rubber safetytoes, keeping the exact same design. They too are just steel toe caps glued onto the galosh, which is made in China. Feeling dejected, the company that makes their product in Mexico is making out how awful that is. Imagine that - a case of the pot calling the kettle black maybe? The daughter too has spent a lot of time alluding to how the quality of "foreign-made product" is dubious. She makes a lot of noise about how her father's old pals are now selling a product that is a look-a-like with no mention of the fact that daddy was the first to make a look-a-like. Go figure?

This has quite unhinged them leading to some really bizarre comments.

They refer to each other as "copycats" even though they are all exactly the same design. Each is a steel toe cap glued to a very thin and flimsy galosh. They are not much better than the gimmicks they replaced, namely the "yellow clackers". (The clackers were all that existed until the early 1980s.) Nothing has changed since then except that some are made of rubber and some are made of PVC. They argue about stealing their "unique" colour codes. Hardly very unique if they all use the same bright colours for the exposed toe caps. They claim that thin PVC is better than thin rubber. I've seen how these things decapitate and I'd be more concerned about that than the colour. Which is not a safety issue anyway.

Not that safety seems to matter most to any of them. Do safety professionals really care if one company claims "natural rubber" or just "rubber"? Is any safety professional interested in childish personal remarks? All this does is demonstrate how little actual safety concerns enters into their business. At least the rubber galosh can claim better grip and slip resistance than PVC and the rubber won't crack or harden in cold weather. Imagine walking around with only a thin piece of PVC underfoot. How much slip resistance is there?

The best of all is a supposed testimonial where an end-user extols the virtues of wearing an exposed-toe overshoe and claims that it helps with the warts on his feet. He claims the soft lining underfoot cushions his feet. Even though he has only used them a "few times" he claims "it has made life liveable rather than miserable". He's referring to very thin,dense PVC safetytoe! Exactly the kind of material that makes feet sweat. It's simply amazing the heights of hyperbole some will go to flog a dead horse. I'd be more worried about having PVC that close to any part of my body, even wart-infested feet. PVC is the most deadly material that man has ever invented.

We are happy to be above all this ugliness.

Type "safety shoe regulations" into Google or Bing and observe the results on the first page. Safetytoes.com is the only safety overshoe company appearing. Anybody conducting such a search is serious about safety footwear. They are coming to our website and blog in ever-increasing numbers and getting details on a very cost-effective alternative to full safety shoes. We're involved with industry, policy-makers and serious players in the PPE business.

The days of the "yellow clackers" and the "ugly ducklings" are numbered although many agree there's still too many of them clogging the channels of distribution. Those washing their dirty linen in public sell thin PVC with brightly coloured toe caps and others sell thin rubber with brightly coloured toe caps. They were great in their day but times have changed.

All this reminds me of "Rudolph The red-nosed reindeer" and happy holidays.

In response to the "interview".

I wrote this in response to the "interview" located here - http://cleanroom.net/?p=3552

I refer to it as an "interview" because I doubt the objectivity of the blog. I posted this response but it was removed immediately. This may have happened because of the relationship between the blog writer and Wilkuro?

It's a fair attempt at promoting the virtues of a 'Wilkuro', such as the bright colours on the toe caps, how light they are and how workers might remove them from the workplace. However, the many other mean comments compelled me to comment. As readers of this blog know, at Safetytoes International we spend a lot of time raising awareness for safety overshoes (we even have links to them here) because we believe in the concept. Yes, we think the Slipp-R is the best safety overshoe on the market today and we extol its features, advantages and benefits. The "interview" is a negative piece that damages all purveyors of safety overshoes, not just those who make Wilkuro look-a-likes.

"I think trying to bad-mouth the competition shows a distinct lack of confidence in one's own product. I also think raising awareness for safety overshoes would be a better use of time than just fear-mongering. When I see that I rail against it.

The Wilkuro is a steel toe cap glued into a PVC galosh. There wasn't much to invent and there's not a lot to "knock-off" either. The way this family member talks you would think there is something sinister going on. Safety overshoes can provide the same toe protection as a safety shoe. That's what we need to be talking about. Scaring potential users will only limit the savings they could enjoy.

The 'Wilkuro' is made in Mexico, the 'Treds' in the USA, and the 'OSHATOE' and the 'City Work', in China. All four of them look the same. The only protection comes from the same steel toe cap they all use. To pretend that the Wilkuro is the only overshoe where the toe cap might not fall out is just disingenuous and scare-mongering. They're all glued-in, they're all made the same way and it's only the Wilkuro that is made of PVC. In fact, the 'OSHATOES' used to be the 'Wilkuro' until OSHATOES also decided to sell a rubber-based product instead. They purchase that from the guys who make the 'City Work' - who used to make the 'Wilkuro' before the Wilkuro Company went to Mexico to manufacture their PVC galosh.

Likewise, to allude to "pass(ing) compliance testing to ASTM F 2412 / 2413" is way out of line and worthy of challenge. NO OVERSHOE on the market today can pass a compliance test for ASTM, ANSI or CSA. For technical reasons it's just not possible and I've seen enough "Modified Results Test Reports" to know what I'm talking about. That's why NO OVERSHOE can produce an ASTM Certificate. That's why only results of performance testing against a certain Standard are obtainable, which is all that the Wilkuro Company has too. Granted, some overshoe companies that have not had their product performance tested may be giving themselves a challenge, but to characterise that as ominous is plain silly. In law, the onus is on the employer to provide the appropriate PPE for any hazard identified in the employer's risk assessment. ALL safety overshoes provide adequate toe protection. Who cares how they colour-code their products, that's not even a safety issue!

My company does not make a Wilkuro look-a-like, and I 'm sure those who do will come here to defend themselves, but I say, enough of the negative, let's all try our best to sell the benefits of safety overshoes and stay real."

Don't throw snow without your 'toes.

We're expecting our first snow of the winter today in Toronto. I thought this would be a good time to mention how good the Slipp-R safety overshoe is when dealing with it.

I wear my Slipp-Rs all year round but they really come into their element when the snow needs throwing. It's important to feel safe underfoot when working in snow. Lumps of ice and snow-covered garbage are good reason to ensure your footwear doesn't become another hazard. The confidence I get from wearing rubber safety overshoes helps anchor me when I'm out there clearing steps and walkways.

The thick rubber keeps my feet warm too, even at 14 degrees below!. When the job is all done, I slip off my Slipp-Rs and walk straight into my warm house.

So remember, "Don't throw snow without your 'toes".

Pay less, get more - the Slipp-R safety overshoe.

Pay less, get more typifies what the Slipp-R is all about. If it's toe protection you need the Slipp-R can be a cost-effective alternative to CSA Approved protective footwear.

The Slipp-R has a unique number of safety features over and above the 60% to 100% higher rated enclosed steel toe cap. The Slipp-R is made of 100% rubber and sports an all-flat sole designed by expert Canadian footwear engineers.

It is transferable and hygienic, with the additional benefits of providing for ease-of-use, anti-slip, acid, oil and animal fat resistance all on top of excellent good looks.

See everything the Slipp-R has to offer at www.safetytoes.com and our blog at www.safetytoes.blogspot.com

Protect Your Piggies!

A footwear revolution in Canada.

A Canadian footwear icon has died.

We've just been notified of the passing of Charles (Chuck) Greb who brought the world famous "Hush Puppies" brand of footwear to Canada in 1959.

At Safetytoes International Inc., we can identify with Mr. Greb and the challenges he once had in launching a revolutionary piece of footwear in Canada. When he first introduced the Hush Puppies brand the professional buyers were skeptical. However, Canadian consumers were not so reluctant. The Greb Industries campaign to raise awareness for an alternative to expensive or cheap shoes paid off handsomely. Within one year, astonishing results saw sales of Hush Puppies rise to 600,000 pairs.

Another similarity we have with Greb Industries is how they used the vulcanisation of rubber to create a competitive advantage. This had the effect of making Greb footwear unique in much the same way as we have been able to distinguish the Slipp-R. We are very proud to be building on a Canadian success story and we extend our sympathies to the Greb family.

Mr. Greb was born on September 2, 1929, and died on November 18, 2009. He leaves his wife Fern (McEwing); sons Ross, John, and Paul; stepdaughters, Lori and Janice and 13 grandchildren.