Choosing The Right Work Boot
Choosing The Right Work Boot
Workplace environments and risk factors vary enormously so choosing the correct footwear is imperative. Work health and safety risk assessments should be considered before choosing footwear protection.
Work Boots That Are Fit For Purpose
Choose appropriate footwear for the intended use, paying particular attention to the underfoot conditions in your work environment. This can include uneven surfaces, wet or muddy conditions and slippery surfaces that may require waterproof boots or slip-resistant boots.
Beyond the durability of the boots, also consider your physical activities: are you jumping in and out of a truck all day, standing on concrete flooring for extended periods or using ladders—all of these things need to be taken into consideration when selecting the most appropriate footwear.
Safety Toe Cap
Blundstone manufactures safety footwear using steel and composite toe caps and ensures all our safety features are compliant with ASTM safety standards.
Our broad fitting Type 1 steel toe caps are tested to resist a 200 joule impact. Steel offers the best protection in safety toe cap material, providing the highest level of resistance to impacts, punctures, cuts and rolling side compression.
Our composite toe caps are capable of withstanding an impact of 200 joules, making them ideal if you're on your feet all day and require lightweight protection.
Quality Uppers
Always select footwear that is manufactured with materials that are breathable, protective and supportive. This is vital for good foot health and can help prevent issues such as blisters after a long day at the job site.
Leather is an ideal choice for footwear as it will naturally shape to the foot over time and can also be treated to provide water resistance whilst remaining breathable. Advancements in technology are improving the use of new lightweight upper materials that are also durable and
breathable.
Sole design and material
Always ensure the tread pattern on your boots offers suitable slip resistance. If you are working on rough or muddy surfaces, you will need a deeper tread than someone working on concrete flooring or in transport. A defined heel is an important feature for anyone using ladders or gantries.
The heat resistance of the outsole is important for many industries. Make sure that you select boots that have a high heat resistance (300ºC) if you are working on job sites where your boots could be exposed to hot surfaces and materials such as road resurfacing and swarf.
Design
If you need additional protection for ankles and calf areas, a boot with laces or laces and a zip for personalized fit adjustment could be the most suitable option for a safe and comfortable work boot.
If you take your boots off several times a day, a zip side or elastic side design would provide easy on, easy off convenience. There is a Blundstone work boot for nearly every environment or construction site.
Protecting your feet.
Understanding work boot safety standards:
All Blundstone safety footwear complies to the Australian Safety Standard AS 2210.3:2019. The objective of this Standard is to provide manufacturers and users with requirements for footwear intended for use in workplace applications.
Safety footwear is defined as:
‘Footwear that incorporates protective features to protect the wearer from injuries which could arise through accidents, fitted with toe caps, designed to give protection against impact when tested at an energy level of at least 200 Joules and against compression when tested at a compression load of at least 15kN.’
The testing for standard AS 2210.3:2019 compliance covers many facets of the footwear construction including design, upper construction (including leather properties), linings, durability and slip resistance of outsole materials, insoles, toe protection and specific ergonomic features.
Certain workplace environments require additional protective features in footwear including penetration resistance, electrical properties, water resistance and metatarsal protection—these requirements are also addressed in additional clauses in the above standard.
It is imperative that the correct safety footwear is selected for the intended application.
Workplace environments and risk factors vary enormously, and OH&S risk assessments should be conducted before choosing footwear protection.