The Origin and Development of Safety Shoes

At safety, we offer a wide range of brands and styles of safety shoes. This article may help you understand the origins of safety shoes and the standards of safety shoes.

Here is the content list:

• The Origin of Safety Footwear

• Changes in Safety Footwear Standards

The Origin of Safety Footwear

You may be curious about the origin of the concept of safety shoes. The first protective footwear worn by employed workers was called Sabots. These shoes were made with a simple cut-out wooden shoe design that protected the feet of French and English farmers from falling objects. This was a common choice of footwear until the Industrial Revolution when workers began throwing Sabots into machines to stop production during protests. In the 1930s, safety in the industrial workplace began to be addressed, and the Red Wing Shoe Company began making steel-toed boots in Germany for workers and officers not serving in wartime service. After the war, safety continued to be a primary concern, and in the 1970s, Congress passed the Occupational Safety and Health Act to ensure safe and healthy working conditions for employees. This act included the creation of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to enforce standards related to worker safety.

Changes in Safety Footwear Standards

Until today modern safety shoes for men and women have been designed with a single safety toe. These were historically steel but eventually included aluminum, composite, and carbon fiber toe shoes. These composite toes were inspected and tested with steel toes to meet the standards set by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Over time, foot protection has become the standard for protecting your toes, ankles, and feet from hazards and injuries. This has led to new regulations of safety boot standards by the American Standard for Testing and Materials (ASTM), focusing on an increasing number of areas, including falling objects, stepping on sharp objects, hot and cold, wet and smooth surfaces, and exposure to corrosive chemicals, as many job sites present a risk of slipping and falling due to smooth surfaces.

OSHA and ASTM standards now cover performance requirements, testing criteria, and standard labeling. Since every work environment is different, the responsibility for requiring specific safety footwear falls on the employer. OSHA requires employers to evaluate the workplace to determine the hazards that may require personal protective equipment (PPE). Failure to comply with OSHA requirements can result in thousands of dollars in fines.

Impact and compression resistance does not require a steel toe, but a protective toe must be a permanent part of the shoe or safety shoe to protect the foot from falling objects or heavy rolling objects. Metatarsal protection reduces the chance of injury to the top of the foot. Suitable footwear should be designed to cover the toes and the metatarsal area between the ankle and toes.

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