Duties of care and safety for work shoes continues to change with the new ASTM slip-resistant standard
Throughout our industrial worksites here in Indiana and Illinois, workers are challenged with dangers and hazards that can instantaneously result in life-altering bodily injuries and even cost them their lives. Construction workers, dockworkers, those working shifts in our warehouses or factories, as well as commercial truck drivers and railroad crews understand that each shift comes with its own unique risks.
These accident risks are understood by employers and safety agencies, as well. Most of our commercial industrial worksites are heavily regulated by law as well as protected by detailed and specific industrial standards for the care and safety of everyone on the job. For more, read Workplace Safety and OSHA Regulations in Indiana and Illinois.
Personal Protective Equipment
Much of our industrial safety focus is on the site itself, or particulars within it. Ladders, for instance. However, one of the most important ways employers can control hazards in an industrial worksite and prevent accidents on the job is by providing their employers with safety gear known within regulations and standards as “Personal Protective Equipment” or “PPE.” Read, Personal Protective Equipment and Serious Industrial Accidents.
The proper PPE will change with the jobsite, depending upon the hazards presented there. Helmets worn by ironworkers are not required for truckers, for instance. However, one of the most widespread types of worker personal protective equipment for all industrial sites in Indiana and Illinois is a simple one: shoes.
All industrial workers in Indiana and Illinois need to be protected from workplace accidents with the proper type of footwear or work shoes for their trade and jobsite.
Different Workplace Dangers Need Different Types of Work Shoes
An Illinois construction worker helping to build a new Chicago office building will need footwear that keeps feet safe from heavy materials or tools falling on the foot, as well as a sharp blade or shooting nail from piercing the worker’s shoe. Compare this with someone working in a Gary, Indiana, steel mill: their feet will need protection from high heat or hot spills as well as soles that help give secure footing on hazardous surfaces.
In the industrial workplaces of Indiana and Illinois, industrial hazards necessitating special work shoes to keep workers safe from harm on the job include the following:
1. Electricity
Many of our industrial workers are tasked with working with electricity as part of their trade. Others are working alongside electricity in some way, from operating heavy machinery to stepping alongside or over electrical cords roaming along the worksite floor.
Without special protection, these workers are vulnerable to electric burns or electric shock and even death by electrocution should their foot come into contact with a live wire.
2. Flammables or Explosives
A similar danger to exposure to electricity are those working near flammable materials, especially explosives. Special work shoes are necessary to protect against harm.
3. Falling Materials
Anyone working near shelves, scaffolds, loading docks, etc., is at risk of being hurt by something falling from a height. With sufficient force and weight, an industrial worker risks loss of a toe or foot to amputation without proper PPE work shoes.
4. Hot Work
Any industrial worker involved in hot work faces specific risks of severe injury on the job. Molten materials, for instance, can splash or spill and cause devastating harm to the worker’s feet within seconds.
5. Moisture and Slippery Surfaces
Some industrial sites involve water or wet conditions, as for example our maritime cargo docks. Other industrial workers may have to work during wet weather, where they have to deal with rain, sleet, or snow while getting the job done. In all these situations, the risk is high for the worker to slip and fall and suffer catastrophic bodily injuries.
Types of PPE Work Shoes
Accordingly, a variety of workplace safety footwear has been developed to serve various industries with specific types of PPE footwear and safety gear. These include:
- Anti-static shoes
- Alloy-capped boots
- Dielectric boots
- Metal-instep shoes
- Metatarsal shoes
- Slip-resistant shoes
- Steel-toed boots
- Waterproof shoes.
Regulations and Standards Governing Industrial Shoes and Worker Foot Protection
The federal government has enacted a specific regulation to define an employer’s duty of care and safety for worker foot protection. This is found in 29 CFR §1910.136, which includes the following general requirements:
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, or when the use of protective footwear will protect the affected employee from an electrical hazard, such as a static-discharge or electric-shock hazard, that remains after the employer takes other necessary protective measures.
Moreover, the federal regulations are specific: they mandate that employers must meet industrial standards that are incorporated by reference into the federal regulation itself.
These include:
- ASTM F-2412-2005, “Standard Test Methods for Foot Protection,”
- ASTM F-2413-2005, “Standard Specification for Performance Requirements for Protective Footwear,”
- ANSI Z41-1999, “American National Standard for Personal Protection — Protective Footwear,” and
- ANSI Z41-1991, “American National Standard for Personal Protection — Protective Footwear.”
New Standard for Slip Resistant Footwear
Of importance, a new industrial standard was introduced last year to protect workers from slip and fall injuries. Until July 2021, American workers had no specific shoe safety standards that defined employer duties of care and safety for slip resistant footwear. In ASTM F3445, footwear must meet a minimum “coefficient of friction requirement” of 0.40 on both wet and dry surfaces in order to meet the criteria of being considered slip resistant or “SR”. Shoe manufacturers cannot label their products as “SR” unless this coefficient of friction is met. See ASTM F3445-21 – ‘Standard Specification for Performance Requirements when Evaluating Slip Resistance of Protective (Safety) Footwear using ASTM F2913 Whole Shoe Test Method’, published by ASTM International on June 24, 2021.
Accordingly, all industrial workers in Indiana and Illinois in danger of slipping or falling on a wet walking surface should be provided and protected with proper slip-resistant footwear that meets the new slip-resistance footwear standard as defined in ASTM F3445.
For more, read “A New Standard in Slip Resistant Safety Footwear,” written by Matt Gould and published by OHSOnline on September 1, 2022.
PPE Shoe Accidents and Worker Injuries in Illinois and Indiana
Shoes seem like such a simple thing. It is easy for both workers and their supervisors, along with upper management, to underestimate the importance of safety footwear until there is a tragic workplace accident where lives or limbs are lost, or accident victims suffer debilitating bodily injuries that result in permanent disability and harm.
Safety shoes are extremely important. Compliance with safety standards for industrial footwear is part of the employer’s duty of care and safety.
Workers should be able to depend upon employers to know these industrial shoe safety requirements. These workers should be able to go about their workday secure in the knowledge that managers and supervisors understand the importance of PPE and are monitoring worker protective equipment on a daily basis.
The failure of employers to understand the job-site dangers particular to their industry, and to protect workers from being hurt or killed in an on-the-job accident, are preventable accidents resulting in tragedy. Employers know they have a legal duty to understand the correct footwear PPE; to provide it; and to insure all workers on the job are wearing footwear that meets current safety standards and is in proper working condition.
For more, read our earlier discussions in:
- Hot Work Industrial Accidents in Indiana and Illinois: Employer’s Duty of Care
- Employer’s Duty to Protect Against Worker Confined Space Accidents in 2022
- Construction Fall Accidents: Employer’s Duties to Provide Fall Protection for Construction Workers
- How Great is the Danger of Workers Dying in Fatal Work Accidents in 2022?
- What Is The Most Dangerous Job in Indiana and Illinois?
Workers in Indiana and Illinois who are severely hurt or killed in a work injury have a legal right to investigate the accident to learn if work shoe Personal Protective Equipment issues contributed to their injuries. They may discover legal claims for justice under state or federal laws of negligence, product liability, wrongful death, and workers’ compensation against one or more parties who have legal liability for what has happened. Please be careful out there!
