What You Need To Know When Choosing Footwear For Hazardous Work

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What You Need To Know When Choosing Footwear For Hazardous Work

One of the most common injuries in the workplace is foot injury and according to the NSC or National Safety Council there are over 40,000 per year. Besides the fact that foot injury is a huge issue in the workplace, the feet are submitted to a great deal of stress on a daily basis anyway with tons of force being put upon them just in everyday walking.

If you work in an industrial environment such as a Petro-Chemical plant or in a construction setting where there are more risks and hazardous situations than normal you need to be wearing protective steel toe boots with a steel shank. These types of boots can keep you from suffering a serious foot injury from an object falling on your foot or from stepping on a sharp object. Please note that it is only those boots with the steel shank which is in the sole that prevents wounds to the bottom of the foot. Not all safety boots come equipped with this option so be sure the ones you choose do.

It is necessary that you are aware of your surroundings when you work in a hazardous area and you need to always be on the lookout for situations that could be unsafe. Don't be tempted to do stupid things and be a show off. You need to always be looking around and stay alert for changing situations and alert your co-workers to them as well.

Wearing protective boots is not an option, it is a necessity if you want to be sure that you stay away from unnecessary injuries to your feet. I am not saying that you will never be injured if you wear safety boots but you will not be hurt nearly as bad if you are injured. Having steel toe boots on can make the difference between having a broken toe and having a toe amputated. Amazingly, only 25% of injury victims surveyed were wearing safety boots when they were injured and the reason they gave for not wearing them was discomfort. I wonder how comfortable they are with their injuries.

Many people mistakenly think that the protective boots are heavy and that is an excuse they give for not wanting to wear them but this is not always the case. Now you can find lightweight attractive safety boots and shoes that are no heavier than normal. You can even get steel toes in a tennis shoe style now. I know because over 20 years ago when I was a young man working on the Oil Refineries I wore them when I was climbing scaffolding over 500 feet in the air. If I could wear them in that environment you can surely wear them on a construction job.