Sole-Mate™ II

The Sole-Mate™ II is a user friendly device that is designed to test the condition of static dissipative footwear prior to entering safety critical hazardous areas exposed to potentially ignitable atmospheres.

International Standards (detailed below) recommend regular testing of static dissipative footwear. The Sole-Mate II provides a time efficient and cost effective method of ensuring personnel operating in hazardous areas are wearing static dissipative shoes that are capable of mitigating electrostatic charge accumulation on their bodies.

The recommended range of resistance for static dissipative footwear in:

NFPA 77 Section 8.2.2.2 Static Dissipative (SD) Footwear

IEC TS 60079-32-1 Section 11.3 Dissipative and conductive footwear

Both documents refer to 1 Meg-Ohm up to 100 Meg-Ohm (1 x 10⁶ Ω up to 1 x 10⁸ Ω) resistance through the shoes.

EN ISO 20345, which is another safety footwear standard, specifies a resistance range of 100 Kilo-Ohm up to 1000 Meg-Ohm (1 x 10⁵ Ω up to 1 x 10⁹ Ω).

When specifying footwear testers it is important to know what specification the shoes are manufactured to so that the applicable resistance range is tested on entry to the HAZLOC/EX area.

For example, if shoes manufactured in accordance with EN ISO 20345 are tested on a footwear tester designed to test shoes at NFPA 77, ASTM F2413 and IEC TS 60079-32-1 levels, there is a strong possibility that the tester will fail the shoes.

Footwear testers need to be used in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions, installed indoors in a safe area, for testing before entering the hazardous zone.

They are not designed to ensure 100% compliance with the relevant footwear standards. They can only indicate if the electrical resistance through the shoes are below the maximum permitted resistance outlined in the relevant standard/s.

It is the site operator’s responsibility to ensure adequate levels of training are in place to ensure people use such testers correctly and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are in place so that shoes not in the specified range do not get used in the zoned or classified area.