If the kind of work that you do makes it necessary to wear protective shoes, it is highly advised that you choose a pair that best fits your field of work and your personal requirements. Stay with us as we go through some of the most practical features that are to be expected from protective work shoes used by professionals.

Toe Protection: Steel, Titanium, or Composite?

If you work in warehousing, manufacturing, construction, or any other field of work that involves lifting, carrying, or just being around heavy or super-heavy machinery/cargo/equipment, you need toe protection. The most common choice for work shoes with toe protection is, of course, steel-capped work boots.

While steel-toed boots are unbeatable in their ability to protect your toes, do be sure to choose a pair with excellent weight distribution. If your job requires you to move around a lot, boots with titanium alloy toes are lighter alternatives worth considering. Unfortunately, those are significantly more expensive than standard steel toes.

Composite toe caps on work boots are much lighter and more comfortable, but they are incapable of matching the level of protection that steel or titanium alloy caps can provide. As for acrylic, hard leather, and aluminium-toed shoes, these cannot be relied upon to save your toes from getting crushed, if you work in a place with superheavy equipment.

Heat Resistance

Those working in the manufacturing and construction sectors must make sure their work shoes also have heat-resistant outsoles and not just toe protection. In addition to preserving the wearer’s feet against both direct and latent heat at job sites, external heat resistance adds to the pair’s longevity as well. If you wish to buy the best and the most stylish work shoes for yourself or your crew, head on over to Screen Textiles. They have a wide collection of showerproof, heat-resistant, steel-toed work shoes with reflective detailing and excellent shock absorption. Screen Textiles is not just about shoes either, because their range of work and safety wear also includes everything else from hi viz vests and waistcoats to soft padded gilets and waterproof tunics and action trousers.

Static Resistant/Antistatic Rating

Static resistance or an antistatic rating indicates that the pair is safe for wearing at job sites with potential explosive and fire hazards. Common examples are oil rigs, chemical plants, power plants, and gas stations where a single spark generated from the friction between two surfaces can lead to massive disasters.

Electrical Insulation

Antistatic shoes can be insulated against electrical hazards as well, but the two features are neither synonymous nor always coexisting. Insulated work shoes are recommended for firefighters, rescue workers, people working in manufacturing plants, power plants, industrial labs, construction sites, natural disaster sites, and just about any other workplace where there is a moderate – high risk of electrocution.

Insulated shoes provide protection against electric shocks by reducing the impact of potentially deadly shocks that come from the ground. If a rescue worker accidentally steps on a high voltage live wire while working in a natural disaster site, that’s a ground shock and it can be mitigated by a work shoe with high-grade insulation.