steel toe-cap resists impacts of 200 joules with a clearance of 14mm (tested size 42), and crushing forces up to 1,500 kg This is not a protection to the rest of the foot, where impacts often happen

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other vegan safety boot features

anti static: resistance when new between 01 mega ohms and a thousand mega ohms, although this varies with wetness and wear

energy absorption in the heel described as above 20 joules on standard tests

water resistant upper with no penetration during an hour of the standard test

penetration resistant over 1,100 newtons to the mid sole on standard tests

anti-slip requirements to Italian standard UNI 8615/1

UK          2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9    10    11    12
EU          34   35.5 36.7 38   39   40.5 42   43   44.2  45.5  47  
US male     3    4    5    6    7    8    9    10   11    12    13
US female   3½   4½   5½   6½   7½   8½   9½   10½  11½   12½   13½

Questions asked by contract customers:
Will your manufacturer certify that boots footwear meets safety standards, both in writing and in a durable way on the footwear itself? - Yes

Insurance? - No to all

• professional indemnity
• product liability
• employer's liability (if applicable)
• indemnity to principal cause limitation
• financial loss extension limitation
• pollution cover limitation?

Policies? - Not applicable in a detailed sense, but we are able to make verifiable statements

• Safety
• Quality
• Environment
• Technical
• Commercial
• Harassment

Safety: safety footwear is made by factories that can certify their standards compliance both on paper - usually a leaflet with the shoes or a table of standards inside the box lid and in a durable form on the footwear itself Occasionally we have been asked to produce a manufacturer's certificate and had it faxed to us

Quality: As specialists in vegan footwear, we have a knowledge of the materials used and the tested quality standards that they reach as well as an ability to judge the seam-construction method used by each factory The safety boots and shoes which we hope to sell have a sewn-together construction, non-slip soles and breathable uppers We do not have a formal feedback and problem-solving system to improve the supply chain because, as a small company, we are constantly working for this informally

Environment All-vegan procurement - see under "green procurement" below
We have a composting system for a proportion of our organic waste, print our labels on the back of scrap paper and use council schemes for re-cycling a high proportion of cardboard, paper, glass, and tins This goes beyond the normal standards in the footwear industry of using recycled card for insoles, football and packing boxes By buying our footwear from Europe, we also reduce the pollution and crowding of extra transport

Technical: as "quality"

Commercial: We are fortunate in having very low overheads This allows us to trade in credit, funded by incremental growth

Documented management system

• Safety Standards as legally required, above
• Quality Our policy is to sell by quality description more than brand
• Environment Our environmental policy is simple: all vegan

Corporate policy on these? As above
Manager responsible for these? Sole proprietor / one person business
System approved or registered for these? Our footwear is made to EU safety standards with the numbers stamped on the shoes We are listed by the Vegan Society in their Animal Free Shopper guide to leather alternatives
Audits in the last 12 months for these? No
Assessments for these or Technical, Commercial issues & Harassment? No formal assessment except that all our safety footwear comes from countries with courts, votes, and welfare states so that minimum legal standards apply in the factories We favour footwear from the UK and Europe
Person responsible for supplier assessments on these + Technical & Commercial Issues?
Yes: I am a sole proprietor

Other Corporate Policies:

• ethical procurement:
  Our vegan buying policy reduces the turnover of the animal farming & slaughter industry, reducing the inevitable cruelty to animals of slaughter and mass rearing Like most vegans, we believe that the slaughtering process (by which blood has to be drained from a cow while the heart is still beating) is too prone to cruelty to be worth attempting
  
• green procurement:
  By reducing the demand for animal feed to be grown, we release land for the growing of healthier and cheaper foods
  We also reduce the pollution caused by chrome-tanning of leather We do not have a uniform policy on biodegradability
  Working from home, we reduce congestion & pollution
  We use council re-cycling schemes for the majority of our paper & cardboard We also print our labels on scrap paper and print with a continuous inkjet system to avoid the need for new cartridges.
  We are increasing the proportion of outer wrapping made from recycled newspaper rather than new polythene, and would be prepared to supply footwear in used wine boxes rather than new shoe boxes if a regular customer asked for it
  
• equality and diversity:
  Our footwear is a respectful option to offer stricter members of several minority groups: strict vegetarians (called vegans) who boycott the meat industry; strict Jains, Hindus, and Seventh Day Adventists who probably wear leather but would like to be offered have the opportunity to wear good non-leather shoes without standing-out
  
• data protection:
  N/a

Additional:

• Classified as small/medium enterprise Yes
• Female owned No
• Minority owned - Gay; serves the minority groups of
  strict Vegetarians (Vegans), Jains, strict Hindus & strict Seventh Day Adventists
  Self Employed - Yes
• Quality Management QM system ISO 9001ISO 9002ISO 9003 - No
  Other QM system - Personal experience, training, sight of the goods
  European Safety standards apply to our safety footwear
  Scope of QM - Quality of footwear
• Accountable manager for cases of workplace harassment ? - Not applicable/ Yes
• Any advice on how we can better meet the demands of contract customers is welcome - please e-mail any suggestions or contact details for dialogue