When you are looking for the perfect professional footwear you need to make some choices. In some manufacturer’s or retailer’s websites there are some good search engines that will direct you to the perfect product for your needs, but in some other cases choosing can be more difficult, so knowing the features you need in advance will help you a lot.
In this article I’ll show you the 13 points to check for choosing the perfect professional footwear for your needs.
I bet you’ll be surprised by how easy it is to find the perfect product!
The list of the 13 points to check for choosing the perfect professional footwear:
- 1. Safety, protective or occupational footwear?
- 2. Do you do need specific job-related footwear?
- 3. Leather, polymeric or hybrid footwear?
- 4. Safety category
- 5. Type of footwear
- 6. Design (height of the upper) of the footwear
- 7. Type of toe cap protection
- 8. Type of puncture resistant protection
- 9. Type of outsole composition
- 10. Electrical resistance of the outsole
- 11. Type of additional requirements, if present (features)
- 12. Slip resistance of the footwear
- 13. Any additional comfort need
Let me now list, one by one, the 13 points to check for choosing the perfect professional footwear and the possible choices to make. I’ll also discuss each different topic further in other articles of this blog:
(1): Safety, protective or occupational footwear?
safety footwear UNI EN ISO 20345 with toe cap protection up to 200J and 15kNprotective footwear UNI EN ISO 20346 with toe cap protection up to 100J and 10kNoccupational footwear UNI EN ISO 20347 without toe cap protection
Best “20347” picks by SafetyShoesToday
Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.co.uk
(2): Do you do need specific job-related footwear?
- UNI EN 13832 = Footwear protecting against chemicals.
- UNI EN 15090 = Footwear for firefighters.
- UNI EN ISO 17249 = chainsaw cut resistant footwear
- UNI EN ISO 20349 = Footwear protecting against thermal risks and molten metal splashes, present in foundries and welding
- CEI EN 50321 = Electrically insulating footwear
Best “17249” picks by SafetyShoesToday
Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.co.uk
(3): Leather, polymeric or hybrid footwear?
- Leather: Full grain, printed leather, nubuck, suede leather, microfiber, textile, mesh
- Polymeric: PCV, Polyurethane, Neoprene
- Hybrid: lower part polymeric, upper part (extension) of a different material
(4): Safety category
O1, O2, O3, O4, O5, S1, S2, S3, S4, S5…
(5): Type of footwear
- Shoe
- clog
- sandal
- ankle boot
- rigger
- ranger
- …
(6): Design (height of the upper) of the footwear
- Design “A”: low cut shoe
- Design “B”: ankle boot
- Design “C”: half knee boot
- Design “D”: knee height boot
- Design “E”: thigh boot
(7): Type of toe cap protection
- Steel (metallic)
- aluminum (metallic)
- plastic (composite, non metallic)
- carbon fiber (non metallic)
- fiberglass (non metallic)
(8): Type of puncture resistant protection
- Steel
- textile
(9): Type of outsole composition
- PU
- PU/PU
- PU/TPU
- PU/RUBBER
- FULL RUBBER
- EVA/RUBBER
Best “EVA/RUBBER” picks by SafetyShoesToday
Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.co.uk
(10): Electrical resistance of the outsole
- Antistatic
- ESD
- Isolating
- Conductive
Best “ESD” picks by SafetyShoesToday
Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.co.uk
(11): Type of additional requirements if present (features)
- P = puncture resistant
- C = conductive
- A = antistatic
- HI = heat insulating outsole
- CI = cold insulating outsole
- E = energy absorption of heel region
- WR = water-resistant
- M = metatarsal protection
- AN = ankle protection
- CR = cut resistant upper
- WRU = water-resistant upper
- HRO = heat resistant outsole
- FO = fuel oil resistant outsole
(12): Slip resistance of the footwear?
- SRA
- SRB
- SRC = SRA + SRB
(13): Any additional comfort need?
- Comfort insoles
- Energy absorption systems
- Paddings
- Lacing systems
- Special widhts
- ….
I’m sure that there are some more details that you could check when choosing your safety footwear, but these are the basic ones that you better check. Now you know the 13 points to check for choosing the perfect professional footwear for your needs.
When you’ll have selected the professional footwear with the right features for your job you’ll be more protected and comfortable at work.
I guarantee that if you use the right professional footwear you’ll live a better working experience.
What do you think about the 13 points to check for choosing the perfect professional footwear for your need?
Do you have points to add?
Please write your comments below!
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