MANUFACTURING & MATERIALS INNOVATION
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T
he global market for safety footwear is immense and,
as many developing countries become more
industrialised, it continues to grow. While the
production of safety footwear was concentrated in Europe
and North America, the implementation and policing of
performance standards could be both rigorous and effective.
With the global expansion of footwear manufacture, it
became less easy. Furthermore, not all countries demanded
the same standards in regard to safety footwear sold within
their boundaries. Europe operated under EN 344 and 345
with their various amendments. The USA used ASTM
standards which, although broadly similar, required a
different set of tests. Some countries had scant regard for
standards of any kind.
Standards worldwide are now much tighter thanks to the
global nature of today’s footwear industry. Those demanded
by individual countries do however continue to vary. The
European and International Standard for Safety footwear is
ISO 20345: 2004. The USA on the other hand continues to
follow ASTM, while Canada prefers its own CCA set of
standards. Asia, however, has a variety of standards with
Australia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore
all using different values.
The fact that the European 20345 series published in 2004
(further updated in 2007) are dual EU (CEN) and ISO methods
has proved extremely positive in that countries outside the
EU are adopting them. In any case, since August 2005, any
safety footwear bearing a CE mark destined for EU markets
should have been assessed against these requirements. New
standards continue to be developed and published, so it is
important for anyone involved in safety footwear to hold a
full data base on all standards and to keep it up to date.
There is a wide range of separate requirements within an
overall set of standards designed to cover as many
eventualities as possible. The most obvious ones are for toe
caps, penetration resistant inserts (sole plates) and slip
resistance, the broad outlines for which are as follows.
TOE CAPS
When safety toe caps were all made from steel,
establishing a suitable set of tests that could be universally
applied did not present any serious difficulties. Non-metallic
caps made from hard rigid polymers reinforced with textile
have become increasingly popular, especially where weight
is an issue or for situations where steel might cause problems
as in the case of work-place environments where metal
Footwear Fundamentals
SAFETY FIRST