Reasons to Wear Shoes for Safety

Safety shoes protect employees' feet from possible workplace hazards such as sharp penetrating materials, falling or rolling objects and electrical exposure. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration or OSHA mandates employers to provide protective footwear for their employees working in such hazardous environment. Safety shoes come under Personal Protective Equipment or PPE, which constitutes all such equipment minimizing the wearer's risk of danger from potential hazards.

Protection from Falling or Rolling Objects

• Workplaces that employ heavy tools and objects such as containers and barrels pose the risk of such objects falling or rolling. Safety shoes protect the feet by providing impact and compression-resistance. Impact-resistance refers to the ability of the shoes to protect wearer from the impact of a falling or rolling object, and compression-resistance is the capacity of the shoe to tolerate weights of such objects. For maximum protection, safety shoes should comply with minimum compression and impact limits of the American National Standard for Personal Protection: Protective Footwear or ANSI Z41-1991, or equivalent standards. Visit the United States Labor Department's website for information on other appropriate footwear standards (See Resources).

Minimal Risk from Penetrating Materials

• Safety shoes feature impact-resistant toes that protect employees from piercing objects such as nails and spikes. Normal shoes cannot offer much protection as these objects can pierce through the soles and upper body of such shoes. Some safety shoe types have metal insoles which protect the wearer from puncture wounds.

Safety from Foot-Hostile Substances

• Safety shoes are essential for work environments that expose employees to hot substances such as hot metal industries. Some environments may require employees to work in the proximity of corrosive or poisonous substances. Safety shoes prevent damage that could occur to the feet due to possible splashing of hot, corrosive or poisonous materials.

Safeguard Against Electric Hazards

• Safety shoes can be conductive or non-conductive. Conductive footwear is essential in workplaces that build static electricity in the body. Manufacturing facilities with explosive materials or grain elevators are some examples. In such areas, buildup of static electricity in the body can produce a spark, which can cause an explosion. Non-conductive safety shoes are used in electrically-hazardous areas. Safety-toe shoes prevent wearers' feet from closing an electric circuit with the ground. Under dry conditions, safety shoes are capable of protecting the wearer from open circuits with a capacity of up to 600 volts.