Protective Footwear & Accessories

Generally, you should choose to wear protective footwear to avoid the following types of injuries to feet:

• Contact with falling, rolling or cutting objects
• Penetration through soles or uppers
• Degloving (epidermis pulled away from the feet)
• Anti-static and electrical hazards
• Contact with chemicals, heat and molten metals
• Slipping

There are different types of protection offered, depending on the grade of toe caps.

Type 1 and Type 4 (waterproof) is a Grade 1 toe cap and is recommended for agriculture, mining and quarrying, bush undertakings (e.g. sawmills, building and construction), waterfront, heavy engineering, fire fighting, freezing works, transport in industries listed above, heavy woodwork and meatworks.

Type 2 (Grade 2 toe cap) is suitable for light engineering, transport, storage and communication, light woodworking (e.g. cabinet making).

Type 3 (Grade 3 toe cap) is suitable for light-duty factory work, process work, delivery work, field work (not handling heavy material).

Other features to look for when choosing footwear

• Fuel-resistant outsoles (recommended if the wearer has contact with organic solvents)
• Penetration-resistant midsoles to avoid foot injuries
• Electricity conductive properties to minimise electrostatic build-up
• Anti-static properties

The choice of the tread is also most important

Flexible footwear, which allows most of the tread elements to contact the walking surface, and those with the most tread elements per unit area of sole, are preferred.The tread should be smooth and flat on the contact surface and must not wear out quickly.

Where there is water and lubricants, square or short rectangular tread designs have very good anti-slip characteristics.

Footwear protection in use in Australian workplaces should meet the performance requirements of Australian Standards AS/NZS 2210.1:1994 Occupational protective footwear.

Of course, choosing the right foot protection depends on the type of environment you work in. For more information, contact your local BOC specialist.