When you need to buy safety boots, where do you even begin? With so many options claiming to be the ‘best’, how can you be sure you’re making the right choice for your specific job, comfort, and budget? This essential guide cuts through the confusion. We break down the critical factors you must consider to invest in footwear that offers genuine protection and all-day support.
1.Why is it important to wear safety shoes?
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Workers are operating machines, moving materials, and other operations, their feet are usually at the lowest part of their working postures, and they will come in contact with heavy and hard objects at any time, so that they will be injured by stabs and smashes. In addition, workers are burned by the solution in the laboratory, and get an electric shock in the workshop. According to statistics, 7% of accidental injuries in the workplace are foot injuries. Therefore, when working in high-risk places, workers must wear safety shoes that meet the standards to prevent foot injuries to the greatest extent.
2.Classification of safety shoes
Before buy safety boots, we first need to understand safety shoes, because safety shoes have different safety levels, and the prices of different levels of safety shoes are also different, we need to understand
Now let’s introduce the European standard classification of safety shoes:
According to the safety shoes EN20345 standard, all safety shoes must now have toe protection against 200 joules of impact. This is the energy that the toe area can absorb before it breaks.
All safety shoes exported to Europe must be manufactured in accordance with EN ISO 20345:2011 standards.
2-1 Different standard safety shoes have different price
For the different safety shoes level, the price can be vary from 10 to 100 dollors
according to the material selected by the safety shoes manufacturer. Generally speaking, it can be said that the cheapest safety shoes provide the minimum safety level for the protection level. The higher the price, the more the manufacturer will ensure the comfort of the user and the beauty of the shoes.
Of course, It is not that the higher the standard, the more expensive the price. Everything depends on the materials, craftsmanship and appearance he made. Sometimes a small detail can increase the cost of shoes.
3.Which safety shoes fit for my work environment ?
Before deciding to buy safety boots, we also need to understand our working environment and choose suitable safety shoes according to our working environment.
3.1For indoor and outdoor work:
such as construction sites and mines, S1 or S1P safety shoes usually provide the necessary protection, but of course you must adjust the type of protection to your specific risks.
3.2 For Agri-food industry:
work is usually done indoors and in a dry environment. In this case, if there is a risk of sole perforation, you can switch to S1 footwear or S1P non slip shoes. Depending on the type of floor covering, you may also need to provide non-slip protection, such as SRA or SRB, or sole insulation or heat insulation.
In some laboratories, especially in the chemical industry, you will need to provide safety shoes, for example, to prevent risks related to the products used. In this case, if there is a risk of spraying, you can choose S1 or S2.
3.3 For laboratories:
Especially in the chemical industry, you will need to provide safety shoes, for example, to prevent risks related to the products used. In this case, if there is a risk of spraying, you can choose S1 or S2.
3.4 For automotive industry:
Work shoes must often encounter specific risks, such as those associated with welding. In this case, you can, for example, look for S1 shoes that are also classified as Hro.
3.5 For power plant:
You have to choose insulated safety shoes.
3.6 For electronics factory:
You need to choose anti-static safety shoes and so on
Be sure to buy safety boots according to your working environment.
4.How to choose your safety shoes ?
When we make the final choice of safety shoes, we should consider the above safety shoes standards and our own working environment. While we pay attention to the safety shoes standards related to personal safety, such as the choice of protection level and additional protection, The appearance of safety and the comfort of wearing should be considered. These will be related to the material and shoe type of safety shoes. If you work in Europe, you should of course make sure that the safety shoes you choose have the CE mark. At the same time, you should also check whether they comply with EN ISO 20345:2011 norms.
5.Which shoes you should choose ?
The safety shoes you choose will depend on your needs for safety protection, taking into account comfort, beauty and price.
First of all, you need to determine the safety features you need. All work shoes that comply with EN ISO 20345:2011 are equipped with safety toe caps, such as steel toe caps and composite toe caps. They can withstand 200 joules of impact. . On smooth and greasy floors in an industrial environment, safety shoes must also have anti-slip properties, and the soles must pass anti-slip tests. The remaining safety features are anti-perforation (in the mechanical workshop), anti-static (in the workshop with electrostatic discharge), or splash-proof (in the welding workshop). The durability of shoes is also an important criterion to avoid premature wear.
Once the protection function we need is determined, choosing the most comfortable safety shoes is the second consideration after the function, which is to determine whether workers need low-top safety shoes or high-top safety shoes. Then decide whether the shoes are of leather or woven type, and also need to use waterproof materials to ensure water resistance. The choice of material usually determines the weight of the shoe: the lighter the material, the more comfortable it is.
Finally, you should choose a larger size for your safety shoes, but you should avoid ordering smaller shoe sizes than usual, because the work shoes manufacturer wants them to be paired with thick socks to improve user comfort.
