Safety footwear is a form of personal protection equipment. As the name indicates, these are personal protective equipment designed to protect feet against various injuries at the workplace. Compression, impact, and puncture are the most common foot injuries. It can help with injuries caused by slippery surfaces, sharp piercing edges, heavy rotary machines, pinch points, falling or rolling objects, hot objects, splinters, etc. Occupations Safety and Health Administration requires employers to provide their workers with the necessary safety footwear, especially in workplaces with a high risk of foot injuries. It is the responsibility of the management to ensure that their employees are safe and they feel protected. This will make them feel comfortable and hence improve their work efficiency.
Things to Consider Before Buying Safety Footwear
Safety shoes come in both informal and formal styles and have a massive variety from which you can choose. However, workers must be provided with safety footwear that is reliable and durable according to their work to ensure their safety. The traditional safety footwear has toes made of steel. However, you will also find them in other materials like aluminum and thermoplastic. It is crucial to consider the following factors to choose the right type of safety footwear for the workers:
- The first thing you need to consider is the environment in which the person performs his job and the related hazards.
- Consider the materials used in the safety footwear and how effective each material is against the hazards of that particular work environment.
- Safety footwear that is water, heat, and cold-resistant is always a better option.
- Some safety shoes come with the property of electric resistance, which is very important in workplaces where the workers operate in close proximity to electricity and have a high risk of electric shocks or electric failures.
- Puncture and cut resistance are other features that can be considered for the type of work environment and nature of the job.
Work Environments Requiring Safety Shoes
There are some work settings in which safety shoes are considered necessary to wear due to the tasks involved. These work environments could be as follows:
- Footwear with impact resistance is essential for work that requires handling heavy objects and tools that have the risk of being dropped.
- Handling pipes, stones, rolls, tree trunks, wheels, or other round-shaped items that could probably roll on the feet are some tasks or work environments that require the use of safety footwear.
- Tasks that involve sharp tools like knives, axes, nails, glasses, and scrap metals also require the workers to wear safety footwear as there are many risks associated with such work environments.
- Footwear with excellent electrical resistance is helpful in workplaces where you need to work closely with live or dead electric cables.
- Working on a floor that might cause static electricity requires wearing safety shoes.
Benefits of Safety Footwear
The concept of safety footwear was developed in the 20th century, resulting from the increasing awareness of health and safety concerns in the workplace. During those times, laws for workers' compensation and other rights were also being enacted. Therefore, this was a more affordable option for companies. Preventing foot injuries is an essential aspect of workplace health and safety. The benefits of safety footwear are as follows:
- Protection against falling items
- Protection against punctures
- Protection from electrocution
- Protection from cutting injuries
- Protection from slipping
