Purchasing Criteria: What To Consider Before Choosing A Safety Shoe?

To ensure you’re getting a safety shoe like Thorogood moc toe that does what it promises, you need to consider a few factors. Before choosing your shoes, you must know the risks that involve your type of work. From there, you will be able to determine the best type of sole, what material the upper should be, whether the barrel will be short or tall, among other items that should be considered.

To help you through this process, we have listed below the main factors you should look out for before purchasing your safety shoe.

  • Approval certificate
  • Model
  • leather
  • Toecap
  • sole

Below, we’ll detail each of these factors so you can purchase the right safety shoe for your job duties.

Approval Certificate

This is one of the main factors you should consider before purchasing your safety shoe. The Certificate of Approval (CA) is what guarantees that your footwear is, in fact, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) by standards. The CA attests, for example, that the sole was duly tested under the most varied conditions of heat and cold and approved for professional use. Unfortunately, some manufacturers try to market the safety shoe without the CA, which is illegal. So, stay tuned for this item.

Model

The model of your safety shoe will depend more on your professional needs than your taste. Depending on your role within the company or industry, you will need to choose a specific model. Nowadays, the market offers several options ranging from safety shoes with long, medium, or short uppers, in addition to models with or without laces, in the shape of boots, boots, and even in the shape of sneakers.

Pair of leather safety boots with brown laces.

The safety shoe model should be chosen according to the worker’s role rather than aesthetics.

Leather

The leather is the part of the shoe that covers your foot. Along with the sole, the upper is one of the parts that should be most efficient when protecting your foot.

Therefore, it must always be made with resistant and durable materials. The most popular are nylon, PVC, polyurethane, and leather. The greater the risk of your work, the more resistant the cooking material must be. To help you with this choice, we’ll show you how each of these materials can make your safety shoe upper more or less suitable for each function.

Leather

Leather is the most popular material for making safety shoe uppers. Suitable for all types of hazardous professional environments, the leather protects your feet against falling objects, abrasive agents, and electrical shocks.

PVC Leather

PVC (plastic) is generally recommended for chemical industries, gas stations, sugar cane mills, basic sanitation, agriculture, and gardening.

Polyurethane Leather

Polyurethane (PU) guarantees impermeability, thermal insulation, and easy cleaning. Therefore, it is indicated for work in the food sector, refrigerated environments, which have contact with grease and solvents.

Nylon Leather

The nylon upper reduces perspiration levels, is resistant to fuel oil, and makes movements lighter and flexible. It is best suited for use in lighter-risk environments for the feet, such as for electricians.

Toecap

Another essential factor you should take into account is the toe cap of your safety shoe. And, once again, the choice of the type of toe cap will be based on the type of function you have and the environment in which you work. If you work in a high-risk area, you must opt for safety shoes with a toe cap made of steel or composite. Both steel and composite are super-resistant materials to fall from heavy and sharp objects.

For those who work in a lower risk area, it is enough for safety shoes to have a PVC toe cap, for example. But you need to know that toe caps made of PVC do not have the same rigidity as steel and composite.

Sole

The sole of the safety shoe is another essential item to ensure the safety and protection of your feet. In general, shoes available on the market have the sole made of PVC or polyurethane (PU). When made in polyurethane, it can be mono-density, when there is only one injection of the material, or dual-density, when there are two injections. The choice of the sole must be made according to the function and the working area.