Wearing Safety Shoes Correctly – What you need to know ?

Are you wearing your safety shoes correctly? Read on to know what you’re doing wrong based on your work environment.

Wearing safety shoes helps shield your feet and reduce job site injuries. However, it’s also crucial that you wear them correctly. Improper use may lead to problems such as fatigue, discomfort, or even injury in severe cases. And while employers may provide training on the use of work shoes, it’s also up to employees to ensure they’re following the best practices. This article discusses the proper ways to wear safety shoes and work boots.

Tips for Wearing safety Shoes for the Workplace

If you work in a high-risk job site, protective footwear is most likely a requirement. Wearing safety shoes properly makes them more comfortable and useful. Most of the time, workers are told the need to wear their protective shoes or work boots. But even so, it’s important that you understand the dos and don’ts of wearing this type of footwear. Below are tips on how to wear safety shoes in a way that ensures you remain both safe and comfortable when working.

1. Ensure the Right Safety Shoes

Safety shoes are designed for different work situations; anti-slip safety shoes for smooth surfaces, waterproof safety shoes for wet conditions, safety shoes for work situations that involve high voltages, and so on. To ensure maximum protection and that you’re following workplace rules, use safety shoes that are designed for the particular risk in your workplace. Additionally, make sure the shoes meet the set standards for your specific environment.

2. Use Fitting Safety Shoes

Safety shoes and work boots must fit snugly and feel secure when you walk around in them. If the shoes are too large or small, it will be difficult to wear them for extended periods. Ill-fitting shoes also increase your risk of you suffering a foot injury or problems such as corns and callous. The right fit means a shoe that is the correct size for your foot. It also means a shoe that feels comfortable wearing.

3. Wear the Right Socks

The importance of wearing safety shoes with socks cannot be overemphasized. Socks improve comfort and help absorb moisture. However, the wrong choice of socks can cause problems by bunching up, causing your feet to slip inside the shoe, or absorbing and holding moisture to your skin. This can lead to discomfort and may even result in friction blisters or other types of foot damage. Socks made from wool and its blends make the best choice to ensure comfy and work-safe safety shoes.  

4. Lace Safety Shoes Properly

You do not know how to wear safety shoes if you cannot lace them properly. Incorrectly laced shoes will either feel too tight and uncomfortable or too loose and likely to slip from your feet. It can also mean laces that come undone when you least expect it, compromising your safety in the workplace. In order to avoid that, always double-knot your shoelaces so they stay securely in place. Check out these methods of lacing work shoes or boots.

5. Only Wear Dry Safety Shoes

The purpose of wearing safety shoes is to protect your feet. So the shoes must be safe themselves. One of the ways to ensure that is by only wearing shoes that have completely dried. Always have more than one pair so you can allow the shoes to air-dry for hours. In situations where the shoes are soaked and moist, stuff them with newspapers to help speed up the process. Ensure, also, that you keep them in a dry and well-ventilated area.

6. Do not Wear Worn Safety Shoes

Lastly, it’s important to make sure you’re only wearing safety shoes without wear or damage. Regularly inspect them for wear and other issues such as cuts and cracks. Do so even when you aren’t seeing any signs of damage. This will help ensure your work shoes do not hurt your feet or put them at the risk of workplace hazards. Replace the shoes in time too, to avoid putting on worn footwear and endangering your feet.

How to Wear Safety Shoes Correctly: Step by Step

We’ve already looked at the best practices when wearing safety shoes for the workplace. These should help ensure the shoes serve their intended purpose and that your feet remain comfortable all day long. But how do you put on these shoes? Here, now, is a step-by-step procedure on how to wear safety shoes properly.

• Ensure your work zone safety shoes are completely dry (air-dried)
• Start by inserting the insole. The insole is supposed to increase comfort when wearing shoes for long hours.
• Next, put on your sock. Stretch the sock to smoothen it and ensure there are no folds or bunches.
• Carefully insert your foot into the shoe, taking care not to shift or move the insole out of place. If the insole moves, remove your foot and reposition it as before.
• Move the foot forward into the toe cap area. Ensure the proper position: not too much forward as to push against the toe cap and not too far as to leave a large space.
• Tighten the laces as required. The shoe should not feel too tight or loose.
• Test the fit and comfort of the shoe. Comfortable safety shoes are safer and will make you more productive.
• If the shoe feels too uncomfortable or is causing pain, do not wear it- or if it looks deformed and damaged.

Conclusion

Safety shoes are supposed to protect you from hazards in your place of work. However, the benefits of wearing safety shoes can only be evident if you understand what to do and what not to when wearing them. Wearing them incorrectly can mean exposing yourself to danger unnecessarily. It can also mean discomfort that lowers your productivity at work. Use the method and tips to wear safety shoes in this post as a guide to help you ensure you remain safe and comfortable on the job.