Safety shoes or steel toe boots are hard wearing shoes or boots that have a protective plate in the toe to stop the wearer being hurt from heavy objects falling on them. Often these toe plates are combined with a plate in the sole to protect the foot from sharp objects on the ground which could pierce the sole and foot.
Traditionally the toe plates and sometimes the sole plates too are made of steel. They can also be made of a composite or a plastic like TPU (Thermoplastic polyurethane). These safety shoes are very important in industrial occupations, particularly in the construction industry, and often job roles have legislation attached to them insisting that these safety shoes are worn. Not wearing safety shoes can infringe health and safety legislation, or can invalidate insurance.
Safety shoes are now available in a variety of styles, including clogs and trainers or sneakers. Some are smart, formal shoes, possibly for workers in a supervisory capacity who have to wear safety shoes by law. In some sub cultures the wearing of steel toed safety shoes has become something of a fashion statement, for instance with punks and skin heads who can often be see sporting brands of safety shoe like Dr. Martens and Grinders.
In the USA, safety shoes have symbols displayed on the exterior which describe the level of protection the shoe gives. For example a green triangle signifies a class 1 steel toe with a reinforced sole. A yellow triangle shows it is a class 2 toe cap with a reinforced sole. A white square means the safety shoe protects the wearer from electrical currents, and a yellow square offers anti static protection. A red square is the opposite of these and can conduct electricity, whereas a picture of a fir tree shows the safety shoe will protect the wearer from chainsaws.
In Canada a safety shoe follows a code system to describe the protection it offers. The first code indicates whether or not the safety shoe has a steel toe cap. If it is ‘0’ then there is none, and ‘1’ means there is one and it resists a higher level of impact that ‘2’, which indicates there is a plate there but it is less protective than a shoe displaying ‘1’. The second part of the code lets the wearer know if there is a protective sole or not. ‘0’ means there is none, and ‘P’ means soles are protected. The third character lets you know if the safety shoe has protection against collisions and shocks, with ‘M’ meaning it does, and ‘0’ meaning not. The next letter describes electrical protection. ‘E’ shoes are resistant to electrical shocks, and ‘S’ means you are protected against static electricity. ‘C’ shoes actually conduct electricity which in some occupations is a positive feature. The last code found on safety shoes are for those which protect feet from chainsaws. If they do, you will see an ‘X’, and if not you will see a ‘0’.
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