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When setting up our minds to having a productive day at work and ticking the “check” boxes in relief after accomplishing our objectives, it is important to wear the proper footwear to avoid discomfort. Since the level of concentration needs to be high in order to make the best out of our days at work, then we should try to keep incommodious occurrences at arm’s length. For that reason, we should choose to wear safety shoes especially when working outdoors and with various equipment.
What Is Considered a Safety Shoe?
Safety boots are known as shielding shoes designed to protect your feet from injuries at the workplace. They are a kind of protective equipment constructed to fend off the “attacks” caused by sharp tools, heavy objects, rolling equipment, electricity, hot or cold temperatures, acids, chemicals, or slippery floors. That is why the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requests employers to make sure their staff wears safety shoes as protective equipment while working in hazardous environments to avoid foot injuries.
Why Wear Safety Shoes?
The main purpose of wearing safety shoes is to avoid instances of being injured. The proper safety shoes ward off false steps, stumblings, and falls on slippery surfaces You cannot work under dangerous conditions wearing casual shoes. Safety boots are slip-resistant and have anti-slip outsoles. This means that you don’t have to worry about what has been poured on the floor, whether it’s wet or slippery—you can go about your work.
Safety shoes also act as a shield when something heavy falls or rolls into your feet. Luckily, you will not experience the intolerable pain featuring a piercing painful sound. Also, by having your safety shoes on, your feet will not make direct contact when stepping on sharp tools, electrical shocks, or chemical and acid liquids, thanks to the caps and the material they’re made of.
Apart from safety purposes, another reason to wear safety shoes is the level of comfort they offer. You might be working out there for long hours, walking around, or standing on foot during your whole shift. That makes the whole process a lot more difficult when you don’t have the right shoes on. Once the shoes cause you ankle or joint pain, sole aches, blisterings, and hinder your toes to move freely, flee goodbye to mental effort. Safety shoes offer you the luxury of the comfort you need. By doing so, you will not experience leg fatigue. Concrete surfaces along with the poor choice of shoes contribute a lot to this matter. So, you need to grab the right safety shoes to finish your job with commitment.
Types of Safety Shoes
Nowadays you have plenty of designs and choices of safety shoes, but we’ll help you pick the right ones based on what conditions you work at and what you truly need. Here’s a brief outline of some of the safety shoes:
Heat-resistant safety shoes
People who work outdoors are often exposed to high temperatures and humidity. When working in agriculture, construction, landscaping, oil and gas well operations, or even in delivery, you will need your heat-resistant safety shoes to withstand the high temperatures.
Heat-resistant safety shoes are made to protect against sparks, light fire exposure, and hot surfaces. These are dangers that can cause great injury, however, if you choose to wear your heat-resistant safety shoes as a steelworker, copper smelter, or road paver, the process will seem like a walk in the park. Some of the advantages of these shoes are that they are designed to be anti-slip, strong, abrasion-resistant, you can move your toes freely, and they are washable.
High-cut safety boots
Another type of safety footwear is high-cut safety boots. These shoes are long-lasting as they are strengthened with additional structural layers to protect your feet from compression or equipment that might fall to your feet. High-cut safety boots are ideal for ankle and shin protection, making them the right fit for workers in bumpy or stony areas. They will offer you a state of physical ease and freedom from pain or constraint.
Non-slip safety shoes
No matter where we work, slips and trips can happen to all of us due to different kinds of obstacles on the floor. Especially if you get to work in oily, greasy, and wet conditions, non-slip safety shoes are highly recommended. These shoes are designed to protect you from slip accidents at work. They are made of slip-resistant rubber outsoles that won’t allow you to slip and get hurt when stepping on wet or oily areas.
Whether you work in a restaurant, hospital, shopping center, construction, or elsewhere, you can face this issue every once in a while. For this reason, to keep yourself safe, know the worth of non-slip safety shoes.
PVC Boots
Due to their accessible material, PVC Boots won’t cost you an arm and a leg. These safety shoes are comfortable, lightweight, and provide high protection for your feet. You won’t slip or slump because of the material PVC Boots are made of. They are also waterproof, so it means your feet will remain dry regardless of how deep in water surfaces you are. Just like they don’t absorb liquids, they also are puncture-resistant, so your feet are safe even when surrounded by sharp equipment.
ESD safety shoes
If you’re an electrical engineer or simply work in an environment that is prone to electrical shocks, ESD safety shoes are a great deal for you. ESD shoes offer you full protection by discharging the body’s static electricity thanks to the dissipation of the material used to design the shoes. These anti-static safety shoes are lifesavers and give you the comfort you need to walk around freely in such hazardous environments.
Safety Shoes Standards & Regulations
The general notion of constructing safety footwear was established early in the twentieth century. The standards and regulations set by OSHA served to increase awareness of the significance of safety and working conditions in a workplace.
OSHA’s standards and regulations highlight the importance of wearing safety shoes both for protecting your feet and preventing injuries on your whole body. Protective equipment standards in designing safety shoes require for them to protect the feet from heavy objects that might fall or roll into your feet, to protect your feet when surrounded by sharp objects, to protect your feet from types of machinery and tools that could cause cuts, to protect you from electric shock, to prevent slips and trips from slippery surfaces by being slip-resistant, and to protect your feet from high or low temperatures by withstanding them.
Safety requirements may vary depending on the industry and its work environment, therefore check with your employer to help determine the safety requirements and the protective equipment, in this case, the protective shoes required.
Conclusion
It doesn’t matter where you work, the proper shoes are important to help you go through the day. Especially if you work outdoors and in dangerous environments, the shoes you choose to wear play an important role in your health and safety. That’s why manufactures constantly come up with different types of safety shoes to reduce the chances of injuries in the workplace.
