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Safety Shoes

Last updated: March 18, 2024

What Does Safety Shoes Mean?

Safety shoes are personal protective equipment (PPE) for foot protection at workplaces.

They prevent foot injuries caused by heavy objects, sharp piercing edges, pinch points, hot objects, splinters, chemicals, and electricity. Proper safety shoes can also help prevent falls due to slippery surfaces and keep the feet warm in cold weather.

Safety shoes are also known as safety boots.

Safeopedia Explains Safety Shoes

Safety shoes come in many styles, both formal or informal. No matter their appearance, they are built to be reliable and durable.

Traditional safety shoes have a steel toe, or a safety toe made of composite materials such as thermoplastics or and aluminum.

Consider the following when selecting safety shoes for workers:

  • Work environment and associated hazards
  • Shoe and toe cap materials and their effectiveness in resisting hazards
  • Water, heat, and cold resistance
  • Electric resistance
  • Puncture and cut resistance

Following are the examples of work environments where the safety shoes are mandatory:

  • Handling heavy objects or tools that might be dropped (impact resistant)
  • Handling pipes, tree trunks, stones, rolls, wheels or round shaped items that might roll over on feet
  • Handling hazardous material (HAZMAT)
  • Works involving sharp tools such as knife, axes, nails, scrap metals and glasses etc.
  • Working with live or dead electric cables
  • Working on a floor which might produce static electricity

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Synonyms

Safety Boots

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