Safety footwear standards
Safety shoes equip officers to best protect their feet. The design of safety shoes is governed by several standards to offer wearers a quality guaranteeing optimum protection.
The difference between safety, protection and work footwear
The general public often tends to mix up these three categories of footwear, but this distinction is important, because the standards subject to each of them are not the same. The major difference between these shoe categories concerns the level of protection against the risk of crushing. The work shoe simply does not have a protective shell to protect the feet from possible falling objects, the protection against the risk of crushing is therefore non-existent. If the protective shoe has a shell, its resistance does not however go beyond 100 joules. To qualify as safety shoe, it must have a shell that can withstand 200 joules, roughly equivalent to a 40kg object falling from a height of 1m. Note that there are there are also metal-free safety shoes.
Basic standards governing safety footwear
The EN ISO 20345 standard governs the design of safety footwear in general. However, the latter is divided into several categories, each pair needing to be adapted particularly to the environment in which an agent evolves as well as his needs. It should be noted, however, that whatever the standard governing safety shoes, they all have in common the protection of the feet against crushing. Below are the standards to be respected:
The S1 standard
This is the basic standard of all womens-safety-shoes and man. It is applied to safety shoes used in dry environments with the presence of hydrocarbons or mineral oils that can cause more or less serious skidding and falls. Shoes in this category naturally protect against the risk of crushing. They are therefore designed for indoor work, with a non-slip sole, an anti-shock and a protective shell (plastic, composite or metal), and the back of which must always be closed.
The S1P standard
This standard has only one thing more than the previous one: it protects the foot from the risk of perforation. In addition to the criteria of the S1 standard, shoes in this category therefore have an anti-perforation sole. The sole is always made with metal or composite.
The S2 standard
Like S1P, the basis of the S2 standard is to meet the requirements of the S1 standard and add a little something extra. In the case of the S2, the standard requires shoes to be waterproof, since they are supposed to accommodate even in very humid environments. Unlike the S1P, however, it does not have an anti-perforation sole.
The S3 standard
This standard fills the main gap in category S2 shoes. In short, in addition to having non-slip soles, a protective shell on the tip, waterproofing and shockproofing, it also protects against the risk of perforation.
The S4 standard
200 joules protection for the shell / shoes made entirely of rubber or polymer / antistatic properties / resistant to oils and hydrocarbons / energy absorption of the heel and closed back.
The S5 standard
S4 + cleated sole / puncture resistance.
Additional standards for safety shoes
The standards discussed above do not include all requirements. Nevertheless, they constitute the bases on which the manufacturers rely for the design of the adequate safety shoes according to the needs of a particular environment.
The addition of certain criteria such as fire and heat resistance or ankle protection (in the case of a boot or safety rangers) can therefore be done without problem. These standards are referred to as "additional standards" where the WR, HRO or even SRC standard can be included.
The different shapes of safety shoes
It is possible to find protective shoes in the form of light sneakers to allow fluid movements. You can also choose low-cut safety shoes. Finally, there are boots and rangers. They have the particularity of offering protection for the legs and ankles. All of them have in common the fact that they are equipped with a shell on the front end of the shoe.