For some workers, there is a higher risk than others to be exposed to an accident. For this reason, the law provides for the use of certain devices, specifically designed to limit or prevent damage to health. Safety shoes are one of these devices, to be chosen according to your needs and safety regulations in force.
What are Safety Shoes?
Safety shoes must be used by a large number of workers, according to what are the provisions of the law. Originally, it was a product primarily used by masons, laborers or electricians who could easily get injured because of the job done. The law now provides for their use even for those who lend his work in bars or restaurants. Of course, safety shoes are of different types, suitable for variety of jobs for which they are needed.
It is an important regulatory system, which was necessary to reduce their risk factors and ensure a lower incidence of dead white, still far too high in the number every year. The devices to be used are numerous, consider the example of the protective helmets to be worn at construction sites, and safety shoes are part of this broad array of which each worker must be provided. Depending on the task being performed, you will be able to wear shoes that are able to ensure the electrical insulation, or the best endurance of any drops of heavy loads, or even that they are completely waterproof.
Compliance with the rules is entrusted to entrepreneurs who are thus encouraged to monitor the safety of their workers or pay high fines or even closure of the yard. Safety shoes may represent, among many devices, some real life-saver: just think of what happens in the case of electric shock. Workers who wear the appropriate safety shoes can greatly reduce the impact that it would have otherwise, even managing to avoid serious consequences, such as death.
Types of Safety Shoes?
If you want to get even more in detail, it is useful to know the types of safety shoes in detail, beyond the certifications that we have already exposed the characteristics above. For simplicity, we will divide safety shoes into four types:
- Low Shoe
- Shoe with Ankle protection
- Sandal
- Hoof
The factors to be taken into consideration, then, are the type of tip and mid sole, the fit, the leather, the sole. The combination of these elements will help us to define the safety shoes and also ideal to get your bearings on the market, because you can find a wide range of prices considerably, from $30 to $150.
Starting at the tip, it is important to say that, in the past, it was a part made exclusively of steel, a material highly resistant yes, but also very heavy. As of today, you can find excellent safety shoes with toe cap aluminum or composite material, made from plastic and fiberglass, in order to have a significantly lower weight.
Today’s technology has made great strides, so is that along with the tips you can also get reinforced soles able to breathe, thanks to asymmetrical holes from which ejects the excess water vapor.
Safety shoes in the mid sole also have had a remarkable evolution during the years, with the implementation of laminae not only in steel, cold in winter, stiff and heavy, but also in synthetic fiber, such as Kevlar, more robust Steel, at the same weight. The kevlar costs more than steel, but also the comfort given to our feet is significantly higher.
With a fit of the shoe does not mean a size in the strict sense but the fit of the product. Indeed, in the case of a shoe with particular characteristics, it is possible that despite the size is equivalent to that of a walking shoe, its fit is different: in this case, are adopted worn slightly wider or narrower, without changing the number of cuts.
The fit 10 corresponds perfectly to fit properly, the 10 ½ and is a favorite for those who love to have a better fit. Each producer should take its reference scale, so it will be good to always measure safety shoes before buying.
Among the leather, suede is the most widely used safety shoes that possess certification S1P, while the S2 and S3 are preferred grain leather, much more durable and waterproof.
The sole, finally, is also subject to certification, having to be abrasion resistant, acid resistant, oil resistant, anti-static and anti-slip. The preferred materials are the compact polyurethane and nitrile rubber, which can withstand up to 300°.
How to Choose Safety Shoes?
After analyzing the characteristics that make up the different types of safety shoes, we have to pass the difficult chapter of choice. The market is very competitive, and it is not easy to be able to orientate and make the right choice.
In general, it can be quite useful to divide safety shoes into two main groups, those suitable for construction sites or in the work riskier and less riskier than adequate to work but to do that you must still have some protection.
If you lend your work as a carpenter, Mason or similar must be totally protected by wearing safety shoes complete with toe and mid sole, so you cannot exempt the purchase of a shoe with certification or S1P S3. Not least is the tightness of the shoe, as in winter you may need to work in contact with the mud and water for prolonged periods.
The preferred color is beige, which can disguise more dirt and splashes of cement. A tiler or all those who carry out finishing work often on his knees, could not be at ease with the rigid steel sole shoes, so it would be preferable to choose models with Kevlar mid sole, allowing the natural twist of the foot, without sacrificing safety.
For drivers, warehouse workers, laborers, of course, the risks are lower and the shoe will reflect this by adopting the characteristics are different from those we have seen to belong to the first group. The color will be dark and not privileged will prove indispensable completely waterproof, which is why safety shoes will be much lighter and more comfortable, often made of suede.
Finally, to finish, we recall the shoes metal-free and non-magnetic, made safe with composite materials and suitable for electricians or those who work in areas potentially at risk for high voltage.
Safety shoes for women
To choose a good safety shoe is right to consider. That these women cannot be the same models used by men, only smaller sizes, Because It would not be appropriate to the specific nature of the female foot and would not be at all comfortable.
On the other hand, companies that have not thought of a production. Specifically dedicated to the needs of the fairer sex, they have not even met the favor, Declaring the failure of this kind of trade policy.
Fortunately, today blackberries and more producers who have decided to inaugurate the specific lines of safety shoes, Exclusively designed for women. The most common are white clogs or sabots. Typically used in the medical field or in the catering, but you can find even blackberries and elegant models in different colors.
The fit of a safety shoe for women is not the same as men’s or unisex. If, for men, it is called shoe sizes ranging from 10 to 11, for women can be worn also need to predict lower rather than higher.
It is useful to remember that the regular is always fixed by the number 10, but you can find on the market also worn 8. Rarely, you will find a woman to wear shoes fit 11 but if you were to be preferred in any case, it will be preferable to choose those models for men, particularly light, not to labor with shoes that are too rigid and heavy.
Some shoes, one of the lightest among the male ones, they weigh in the end, only 50 grams more than those expressly female. Finally, we remind that the shoes declared unisex followed in the distinguished worn adopted for male models, so it is not a real compromise between two very different requirements, but might be for aesthetics and practicality, especially if you wear oversized sizes compared to the classical ones for women.
