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Steel-toe boots
 
 
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Steel-toe boots (also known as safety toe boots, steel-capped boots or safety shoe) are durable boot
Boot

A boot is a type of shoe that covers at least the foot and the ankle and sometimes extends up to the knee or even the hip. Most have a heel that is clearly distinguishable from the rest of the sole, even if the two are made of one piece....
s or shoe
Shoe

A shoe is an item of footwear evolved at first to protect the human foot and later, additionally, as an item of decoration in itself. The foot contains more bones than any other single part of the human body, and has human evolution over hundreds of thousands of years in relation to vastly varied terrain and climate....
s that have a protective reinforcement in the toe
Toe

Toes are the Digit s of the foot of an animal. Many animal species such as cats walk on their toes, and are described as being digitigrade....
, usually combined with a sole plate, which protect the foot
Foot

The foot is an anatomical structure found in many animals. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg made up of one or more segments or bones, generally including claws or nails....
 from falling objects and punctures from below. Traditionally made of steel
Steel

Steel is an alloy consisting mostly of iron, with a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.14% by weight , depending on grade. Carbon is the most cost-effective alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten....
, the reinforcement can also be made of a composite material
Composite material

Composite materials are engineered materials made from two or more constituent materials with significantly different physical or chemical properties which remain separate and distinct on a macroscopic level within the finished structure....
, or a plastic such as thermoplastic
Thermoplastic

A thermoplastic is a polymer that turns to a liquid when heated and freezes to a very glassy state when cooled sufficiently. Most thermoplastics are high-molecular mass polymers whose Chain s associate through weak Van der Waals forces ; stronger dipole interactions and hydrogen bonding ; or even stacking of aromatic rings ....
 polyurethane (TPU). Steel-toe boots are important in the construction
Construction

In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of multitasking....
 industry and in many industrial settings.






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Steel-toe boots (also known as safety toe boots, steel-capped boots or safety shoe) are durable boot
Boot

A boot is a type of shoe that covers at least the foot and the ankle and sometimes extends up to the knee or even the hip. Most have a heel that is clearly distinguishable from the rest of the sole, even if the two are made of one piece....
s or shoe
Shoe

A shoe is an item of footwear evolved at first to protect the human foot and later, additionally, as an item of decoration in itself. The foot contains more bones than any other single part of the human body, and has human evolution over hundreds of thousands of years in relation to vastly varied terrain and climate....
s that have a protective reinforcement in the toe
Toe

Toes are the Digit s of the foot of an animal. Many animal species such as cats walk on their toes, and are described as being digitigrade....
, usually combined with a sole plate, which protect the foot
Foot

The foot is an anatomical structure found in many animals. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg made up of one or more segments or bones, generally including claws or nails....
 from falling objects and punctures from below. Traditionally made of steel
Steel

Steel is an alloy consisting mostly of iron, with a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.14% by weight , depending on grade. Carbon is the most cost-effective alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten....
, the reinforcement can also be made of a composite material
Composite material

Composite materials are engineered materials made from two or more constituent materials with significantly different physical or chemical properties which remain separate and distinct on a macroscopic level within the finished structure....
, or a plastic such as thermoplastic
Thermoplastic

A thermoplastic is a polymer that turns to a liquid when heated and freezes to a very glassy state when cooled sufficiently. Most thermoplastics are high-molecular mass polymers whose Chain s associate through weak Van der Waals forces ; stronger dipole interactions and hydrogen bonding ; or even stacking of aromatic rings ....
 polyurethane (TPU). Steel-toe boots are important in the construction
Construction

In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of multitasking....
 industry and in many industrial settings. Occupational safety and health
Occupational safety and health

Occupational safety and health is a Interdisciplinarity area concerned with protecting the safety, health and quality of life of people engaged in Employment....
 legislation or insurance
Insurance

Insurance, in law and economics, is a form of risk management primarily used to Hedge against the risk of a contingent loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for a premium, and can be thought of as a guaranteed small loss to prevent a large, possibly devastating los...
 requirements may require the use of such boots in some settings, and may mandate certification
Product certification

Product certification or product qualification is the process of certifying that a certain product has passed performance and quality assurance tests or qualification requirements stipulated in regulations such as a building code and nationally accredited test standards, or that it complies with a set of regulations governing quality an...
 of such boots and the display of such certification directly on the boots. In Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
, certified boots have a Canadian Standards Association
Canadian Standards Association

Established in 1919, the Canadian Standards Association is a not-for-profit association composed of representatives from government, industry, and consumer groups....
 green triangle
Triangle

A triangle is one of the basic shapes of geometry: a polygon with three corners or wikt:vertex and three sides or edges which are line segments....
 on them.

Safety footwear now comes in many styles, including sneakers and clogs. Some are quite formal, for supervising engineers who must visit sites where protective footwear is mandatory.

A myth about steel-toe boots is that the inserts actually create a more dangerous environment, because a significant weight could cause the steel to act like a blade, severing the toe instead of the weight simply crushing the foot. However, the weight needed to induce such a failure would result in such severe damage to the toe that amputation would be necessary anyway..

Some brands of steel-toe footwear, particularly Dr. Martens
Dr. Martens

Dr. Martens is a footwear, clothing and accessories brand, and the footwear products are most often known as Doc Martens, Docs or DMs....
 and Grinders
Grinders (footwear)

Grinders is a footwear line established in 1965 in the United Kingdom. Famous for their air cushion sole and leather footwear for both men and women, Grinders have become one of the leading "Street Fashion Footwear" brands from the United Kingdom....
, have become fashionable within subculture
Subculture

In sociology, anthropology and cultural studies, a subculture is a group of people with a culture which differentiates them from the larger culture to which they belong....
s such as skinhead
Skinhead

A skinhead is a member of a subculture that originated among working class youths in the United Kingdom in the 1960s, and then spread to other parts of the world....
, punk
Punk fashion

Punk fashion is the styles of clothing, hairstyles, cosmetics, jewelry, and body modifications of the punk subculture. Punk fashion varies widely from Vivienne Westwood styles to styles modeled on bands like The Exploited....
, and rivethead
Rivethead

A rivethead is a person associated with the industrial music scene. Although industrial music emerged in the post-punk period, the identifiable stereotype of an industrial fan emerged in the 1990s....
.

Safety Criteria

Most safety shoes have symbols on the outside, to indicate the protection the shoe offers. Examples are:
  • Green Triangle indicates that it is a class 1 toe cap with puncture resistant sole.
  • Yellow Triangle indicates that it is a class 2 toe cap with puncture resistant sole.
  • White Square (with ohm symbol) indicates electrical protection.
  • Yellow Square(with SD) indicates anti-static protection.
  • Red Square(with C) indicates electrically conductive.
  • Fir Tree indicates protection against chain-saws.


United States

In the United States, the applicable standard for protective footwear is ASTM standards F 2412-05, Standard Test Methods for Foot Protection and ASTMF 2413-05, Standard Specification for Performance Requirements for Foot Protection.

OSHA requires compliance of ANSI
American National Standards Institute

The American National Standards Institute or ANSI is a private non-profit organization that oversees the development of voluntary consensus standards for products, services, processes, systems, and personnel in the United States....
 Z41.1-1991, "American National Standard for Personal Protection-Protective Footwear," if purchased after July 5, 1994 .

If purchased before July 5, 1994, ANSI
American National Standards Institute

The American National Standards Institute or ANSI is a private non-profit organization that oversees the development of voluntary consensus standards for products, services, processes, systems, and personnel in the United States....
 standard "USA Standard for Men's Safety-Toe Footwear," Z41.1-1967 .

California has updated its regulations with the new 2005 ASTM standards F 2412-05, Standard Test Methods for Foot Protection and ASTM F 2413-05, Standard Specification for Performance Requirements for Foot Protection. .

Canada

Generally, a safety-shoe is a shoe that follows at least one of five criterion. You can determine which criteria your safety-shoes adhere to by looking for CSA's(Canada's Standard Association) alphanumerical code found inside the shoe. This code is made up of a combination of 5 different symbols: 1, 2 or 0 P or 0 M or 0 E, S or C X or 0

  1. The first code indicates if the shoe has a steel-toe cap(a metal shell embedded on top of the toes part of the shoe). "0" means there is none. "1" means that there is, and it resists an impact of 125 joules(22.7 kg object falling from 56 cm above). "2" means that it resists an impact of 90 joules.
  2. The second code indicates if the shoe has soles that protect the arches of the feet from punctures. "P" means it does. "O" means it doesn't.
  3. The third code indicates if the shoe has a metatarsus protection against shocks and collisions. "M" means it does. "O" doesn't.
  4. The fourth code indicates the shoe's electrical properties. "E" means it resists electrical shocks. "S" means it disperses static electrical. "C" means it conducts electricity.
  5. This last code is found only on shoes that protect the foot from chainsaws. "X" it does, "O" does not.


See also

  • Protective clothing
  • Safety engineering
    Safety engineering

    Safety engineering is an applied science strongly related to systems engineering and the subset System Safety Engineering. Safety engineering assures that a life-critical system behaves as needed even when pieces fail....