Penny Crawford, Crawford Boots
Take a walk in the boots of SRI Founder, Penny Crawford
Penny Crawford has worked as a podiatrist for 27 years in regional NSW and has seen her fair share of foot problems. Many of those problems were seen in underground miners, whose main complaint arose from their ill-fitting work boots. It got her thinking about better alternatives.
What Penny found is that a typical gumboot doesn’t fit. Her solution was to develop boots that address that issue with the patented WedgeTech system, an insert in different sizes. The insert sits in the pocket at the front of the boot and provides a personalised custom-fit within the boot, meaning there is no foot slip and no risk of your foot pulling out even in the wettest conditions. The boots have been an unprecedented success and won the 2019 NSW Minerals Council Health Innovation award in conjunction with Whitehaven Coal.
Alongside her efforts to get Crawford Boots on as many feet as possible, Penny works to inspire more women, especially in the mining industry where they are stereotypically underrepresented and give them a voice to share their experiences.
“We want to start a conversation around the changing face of mining and the women behind it, so we are currently undertaking a social media campaign focusing on women in mining called ‘In Her Boots”.
“The value in the level of support & access to learning opportunities through the SRI has been both hugely beneficial in terms of focus and growth for both myself and my business”
