Work boots have to be both comfortable and protective. That’s a tall order for a piece of footwear, but it’s one that the best steel toe boots manage to achieve. Workplace safety is intended to protect workers from head to toe, and heavy duty work boots do their bit everyday by preventing serious injuries.
Workplace safety begins with boots
The best steel toe boots offer two different kinds of safety: they prevent slips and falls with their skid-resistant soles, and they protect the feet from injuries around heavy machinery and moving objects. Statistics show that steel toe boots play major role in preventing workplace injuries. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, workers were not in compliance with safety regulations in the case of 75% percent of workplace accidents.
Safety shoes or boots protect the feet, and also prevent slips and falls, which are the commonest causes of workplace accidents. Skid-resistant soles provide a good grip on slippery or wet floors, in industries such as construction, manufacturing, warehousing and maritime.
Foot injuries can be serious and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that a foot or toe injury can result in missing a week of work.
Why comfort matters
Comfortable work boots might sound like a contradiction in terms, but it’s a practical necessity. Not only do workers in construction and other industries spend the day on their feet, they walk three times as much as an average person. On an ordinary day, the average person walks around 10,000 steps, but a construction worker or laborer takes 30,000 steps or more.
Comfortable boots also allow the feet to breathe freely, and minimize the build up of bacteria to prevent infections.
Safety ratings for steel toe boots
The best steel toe boots provide both safety and comfort. The right gear can prevent and reduce injuries. Safety standards developed by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) are intended to prevent work place injuries. The safety performance ratings for work boots are detailed in the ASTM F2413-11.
All work boots must have a protective toe cap, on the inside. The toe cap must be permanently fixed. The four classes of protective toe caps are used to rate impact resistance, and take into account both sex and protection ranking. The four classes are: Class 75 for men, Class 75 for women, Class 50 for men and Class 50 for women. A ranking of 75 has a higher impact resistance rating than 50.
The best steel toe boots provide both safety and comfort for people doing some of the most difficult and dangerous jobs. Workplace safety regulations and safety gear help to prevent injuries and accidents, while contributing to worker comfort and efficiency.
