Steel toe boots are a must if you work in hazardous environments such as construction sites, car machinery repair stores, wood cutting industry, etc.
They are recommended and are made compulsory in almost every country including US by OSHA standards.
But some people bear the wrong information that steel toe boots can cut off your toes which is totally wrong.
Today I am going to break the myth and tell you in this article how protective steel toe boots actually are and how much weight they can really take.
So let’s proceed:
Benefits of steel toe boots:
Steel toe boots protect your feet from various injuries such as:
⇒ They protect your feet from falling or rolling objects
⇒ They protect your feet from any type of deep piercing and cutting with sharp edges
⇒ They prevent punctures from sharp objects
⇒ They can even save your toes when run over by a heavy truck
Safety Standards of Steel Toe Boots
1.) Are steel toe boots OSHA approved?
Want to know what OSHA is?
Well…
I will explain all about it…
The full form of OSHA is Occupational Safety and Health Standards. The Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) section which covers footwear safety and health standards is included in the section of OSHA.
OSHA recommends conducting an assessment either by company’s safety personnel or by a consultant to determine the need for PPE and the types of footwear that the employees should wear.
OSHA requires employees to wear only those foot wears which comply with their standards and issues fine if the standards are not met.
According to OSHA 1910. 136:
The employer shall ensure that each affected employee uses protective footwear when working in areas where there is a danger of foot injuries due to falling or rolling objects, or objects piercing the sole, and where such employee’s feet are exposed to electrical hazards.
Now, the question is, are steel toes OSHA approved?
The answer is the steel toes completely comply with the safety standards set by OSHA in the above mentioned section.
2.) Are Steel toes ANSI Approved?
The ANSI (American National Standard Institute) standard requires that all safety shoes must pass the compression and impact test before they are sold in the market.
Down below we shall find out whether steel toes meet the ANSI standard or not.
Steel toe Impact and Compression Tests
Footwear manufacturers rate and test their shoes and boots according to the standards set by the ASTM international. The relevant standards for footwear with a protective toe cap are ASTM F2412 and ASTM F2413. The ASTM F2413 standard specifies that toe cap must be first tested for impact and compression. The test and methods for impact and compression are specified by ASTM F2412 standard as follows:
1.) Impact test:
It is concerned with the effect of what happens when something very heavy falls on the shoes or boots.
2.) Compression test:
It is concerned with the effect of what happens when something very heavy rolls on the shoes or boots.
So, in ASTM tested footwear, the toe cap will offer the same level of protection irrespective of the material it is made of-whether steel or composite.
And yes steel toe caps pass both the tests effectively and we are going to show you just down below the proofs.
Impact Test Result on Steel toe cap
We are going to share with you the results of a video where they tried to split steel toe boots in half with a heavy axe and the results will shock you.
Testing:
The person first hit the right pair of boots with the axe with great force. The person then went on to hit the left pair of steel toe boots with a Bismarck.
Results:
He then cut open the boot to take out the steel toe cap and to our wonder, the axe didn’t cut through the steel toe boot but there was a slight dint on it. So, steel toe caps are going to protect you from any sharp object with high impact and would not cut your toes off. There might be a slight damage on the steel toe caps, but no damage would be done to your toes.
When he cut open the left pair of boot hit with a Bismarck, there was a slight damage to the steel toe cap, but certainly not enough to cause any damage to your toes.
So, you can rest assured that steel toe boots are a great savior for your toes under any disaster or dangerous impacts.
How much weight can steel toes boots hold?
Truly speaking, a steel toes can take as much weight as 6000 lbs as compared to the normal boots which can take only up to 1200 lbs.
We will share a video with you where they tested a steel toe against forklift truck running over it and the results will shock you.
They put a banana inside the steel toe boot and made the wheels of the truck run over the steel toe boots. The shocking result is nothing happened to the banana at all.
Did you just see that guys?
This is a complete proof that how strong steel toes are and that they can really bear a tons of weight and are a great savior for your toes and the results also broke the myth that steel toes are dangerous for the toes and that they can cut off your toes. When nothing happened to the banana, what can happen to your toes guys?
Before we say Good Bye:
So, what are you waiting for guys?
Go and grab one steel toe boot immediately as you know now the level of protection that they offer to the feet.
Just make sure the model number you are choosing, is OSHA or ANSI approved or the level of protections mentioned in this article would not be the same.
Hope the article was useful to you.
See you soon in the next article!
Till then…
Take care, stay safe!
And…
Keep walking!
