What are safety shoes?

What is the definition of safety shoes?

Safety shoes are designed and manufactured to protect worker’s feet from various risks: mechanical (slipping, impact, compression, puncture, cut, etc.), chemical (contact with oil, acid, alkali, etc.), physical (moisture, water, heat, cold, etc.) and electrical (anti-static property, insulation property, etc.). But first of all, all the safety shoes must have steel toe cap which protects your toes from being impacted or crushed, otherwise they will not be called safety shoes, for the other safety functions, can be added and manufactured as per users’ different use requirements, they vary according to the specific needs of use. The selection of the right safety shoes for professional use depends on its protective features and on the risks in the workplace.

In addition to protecting the worker from injury at the workplace, safety shoes also offer comfort to the wearer by providing features such as shock absorption and energy absorption in the heel area, safety shoes upper leather and lining should be breathable and water vapour permeable to guarantee long time wear comfort. All in all, they should be comfortable enough to allow you to move freely long time without causing fatigue or discomfort.

Customers need to wear the safety shoes with suitable size, otherwise the safety shoes protection effect will not be so good.

Safety shoes kinds

According to the upper materials, they can be divided into genuine leather safety shoes, PU leather safety shoes, microfiber leather safety shoes, fly-knit upper safety shoes, etc.

According to the outsole materials, they can be divided into PU injection outsole safety shoes, rubber cementing outsole safety shoes, goodyear outsole safety shoes, PU/TPU outsole safety shoes, PU/rubber outsole safety shoes, etc.

According to the use environment, they can be divided into construction safety shoes, mechanical safety shoes, mining safety shoes, oil field safety shoes, kitchen safety shoes, executive safety shoes, etc.

Safety shoes structure

Upper: safety shoes upper means the part on the outsole, it can be made with different materials, such as genuine leather, PU leather and microfiber leather, fly-knit textile, etc. The upper materials should have good water vapour permeability, tear and tensile strength, etc.

Outsole: outsole means the part which is below your feet, according to the outsole materials and producing craft, there are mainly PU injection outsole, rubber cementing outsole and goodyear outsole, etc. Safety shoes outsole should have good thickness, abrasion resistance and flexing resistance, etc.

Lining: lining meas the part which is inside the shoes and between your feet and the upper leather, safety shoes lining can be made with different materials, such common mesh, sandwich mesh, cambrelle, etc. Safety shoes quarter and vamp lining should have good tear strength, water vapour permeability and abrasion resistance, etc.

Insole: safety shoes insole should have good elasticity and shock absorption which can guarantee the user’s feet to feel comfortable when user wears the shoes to work. Insoles can be made with different materials: such as mesh coated with EVA, cambrelle coated with EVA, hi-poly, etc. Of course, insole should also have good abrasion resistance and sweat absorption, etc.

Safety functions: steel toe cap is the basic safety protection requirement of safety shoes, otherwise they will be not called safety shoes, for other safety functions, such as steel plate, anti-static, water-proof, oil resistance, acid and alkali resistance, insulation, heat resistance, etc, can be added as per user’s different use requirement.

Safety shoes application environment

Safety shoes are used in the working environment of construction, mechanical, farm, factory, auto repair, handling, woodworking, highway engineering, mine, oil field, etc to protect user’s feet from being hurt by impact, puncture, heat, static, electric and chemicals, etc.

Safety shoes, protective shoes and work shoes differences

Safety shoes refer to the shoes with protective toe cap against impacts with energy up to 200 J or a compression load up to 15 KN (in compliance with European harmonized standard EN ISO 20345).
Protective shoes refer to the shoes with protective toe cap against impacts with energy up to 100 J or a compression load up to 10 KN (in compliance with European harmonized standard EN ISO 20346).
Work shoes refer to the shoes used for work without protective toe cap (EN ISO 20347).