Buying safety boots on the UK
When you're thinking of buying steel toe cap boots or shoes there is a few things you should consider. Steel toe cap safety boots and shoes have progressed massively in the last ten years with a massive range of styles and features now available and much more competition in the market place. Whereas before if you where buying safety boots you only had 2 choices, maybe three at most, you could either have a uncomfortable pair of chukka boots, rigger boots or safety shoes. These were very basic grain leather safety and were not very comfortable or breathable. That's all changed now, with fashion now being an important aspect of buying safety boots or shoes, people are now spending a lot more money on their safety footwear, sometimes over one hundred pounds for the top of the range boots from top manufactures like Caterpillar, Timberland and Dr Martens who have all taken the market by storm and now lead it. Although cheap safety boots and shoes are still very popular, especially with companies that just see supplying safety footwear as a cost. Often the more expensive styles of steel toe cap boots are bought by individuals that realised the importance of having good quality boots on your feet if you are working all day long.
Things to look out for when buying your safety boots are the following.
Safety levels, whilst most boots meet the basic 200 joules minimum for safety boots or shoes, (or 100 joules for some ladies footwear) there are other protections that you need to guard against. These include protection from nails and other sharp objects piercing the sole, a steel midsole is very common now in most styles of safety footwear.
Nowadays not all safety boots are made from steel, there is now a great alternative which is called composite footwear, these boots still meet all the safety requirements but the materials used are much lighter and in the case of Kevlar midsoles they are more flexible, anyone who has used these will tell you they wouldn't go back to steel boots as the extra weight they have to carry is not worth it, they cost a little more but are well worth it.
Other risks that you might come across are things like heat, oil and chemicals, if you are laying tar you don't want your boots melting so it's best to go for a style of safety boots that are resistant to at least 200 degrees, you can get higher and it might be worth looking at that.
Other factors are the slip risk with your boots, if you are a roofer then you definitely want boots marked as having an anti slip slop, different materials are better for this than others.
Rigger boots have always been popular although they have lost some of their appeal in recent years and some places have even banned them as they do not give as good ankle protection as a pair of lacing up boots.
Things to look out for when buying your safety boots are the following.
Safety levels, whilst most boots meet the basic 200 joules minimum for safety boots or shoes, (or 100 joules for some ladies footwear) there are other protections that you need to guard against. These include protection from nails and other sharp objects piercing the sole, a steel midsole is very common now in most styles of safety footwear.
Nowadays not all safety boots are made from steel, there is now a great alternative which is called composite footwear, these boots still meet all the safety requirements but the materials used are much lighter and in the case of Kevlar midsoles they are more flexible, anyone who has used these will tell you they wouldn't go back to steel boots as the extra weight they have to carry is not worth it, they cost a little more but are well worth it.
Other risks that you might come across are things like heat, oil and chemicals, if you are laying tar you don't want your boots melting so it's best to go for a style of safety boots that are resistant to at least 200 degrees, you can get higher and it might be worth looking at that.
Other factors are the slip risk with your boots, if you are a roofer then you definitely want boots marked as having an anti slip slop, different materials are better for this than others.
Rigger boots have always been popular although they have lost some of their appeal in recent years and some places have even banned them as they do not give as good ankle protection as a pair of lacing up boots.
