Harvik boots and Viking gear champion work safety

Standing inside Alliance Mercantile's showroom, surrounded by neon safetywear, massive industrial safety boots and high-end outerwear, president and CEO Douglas Bell talks about the importance of safety to industries worldwide.

"Clients deal with hi-tech, dangerous industries, so we produce boots that can withstand 40,000 volts of electricity or resist over 40 calories/sq cm of thermal penetration," Bell says. "We make boots that can protect against 40,000 pounds per square inch of spray washer, or can stop a chainsaw from cutting a leg in six seconds."

Alliance Mercantile, maker of Harvik and Viking industrial safety boots and garments, has been a leader in hi-tech rubber footwear and outerwear for more than 30 years. Harvik and Viking provide workplace and home solutions for miners, foresters, firemen, oil riggers and consumers worldwide.

Alliance Mercantile owns the Harvik Rubber factory in Malaysia, the only industrial boot producer that blends and manufactures its own rubber. It develops innovative compounds while working with rubber-formulation experts at the University of Malaya, converting its research into industry-specific safety boots through its internal technical and development departments.

Present in more than 65 countries, Harvik Rubber is accredited by international certification bodies in Canada, the European Union, Germany, South Korea, Japan, Russia, Australia and the United States. These certification bodies include the Canadian Standards Association, the National Fire Protection Association, CE, SATRA and Japan Industrial Standards. It is also the global leader in firemen, miner, forester and industrial safety rubber footwear.

Supporting global initiatives to improve work-safety procedures, Alliance Mercantile conducts talks on safety standards. It is focused on serving the construction, oil rig, fire and food sectors on the mainland and across Asia. Its expansion activities produced spinoff company First Broadband, a rural-area communications provider that connects mining camps, oil wells, schools and communities through low-cost internet infrastructure.