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Foot Protection

OSHA's Personal Protective Equipment Standard dealing with footwear (29 CFR 1910.136) requires protection when workers are at risk of foot injury from falling or rolling objects, punctures from sharps, burns or shocks from electrical hazards, burns from molten metal or hot surfaces, chemical burns, and wet or slippery surface hazards.

Employees are expected to wear footwear appropriate for the duties of their employment.  Sandals or other open toe style shoes are not permitted to be worn in laboratories, shops, or other job locations where glass, caustic or corrosive chemicals, or hot materials are used or handled.  Students are expected to wear appropriate footwear while participating in laboratory exercises, or other instructional activities involving the use of glass, caustic or corrosive chemicals, or hot materials. 

Supervisors should evaluate their work area and complete the PPE Hazard Assessment Form to document when foot protection is required.

Safety Shoes

safety shoes

 

 Safety shoes which protect toes from impact are required for employees whose routine job duties require the lifting, carrying, or moving, etc. of objects weighing more than fifteen pounds, which, if dropped, would likely result in foot or toe injury.  In general, this would not apply to office workers.

 

 

Insole Protection

Flexible steel midsoles are required for employees who are likely to step on sharp objects, such as nails in boards, or stakes that could possibly penetrate normal shoe soles.

Ankle Protection

Six or eight-inch safety shoes are recommended for employees involved in activities where ankle abrasions are likely.  These activities include, but are not limited to, climbing, crawling, construction, and demolition.

Wet Locations

Over-the-shoe rubber footwear to be worn over standard (or safety) footwear or boots are required in wet locations.  The boots are required in addition to the safety footwear recommendations listed above.

Rubber boots with toe and metal tarsal protection are recommended for employees working in flooded trenches or other locations where ordinary over the shoe protection would be inadequate to insure that the employee's shoes would remain dry.

Specialized Footwear

Specialized footwear that would not customarily be worn off the job will be provided without cost to employees by their department.  Examples of such specialized footwear include slip-on rubbers, and calf-length and knee-length rubber boots.

Safety Shoes Reimbursement

When safety shoes are required, the cost of one pair per year (not to exceed the dollar amount established by the Office of State Budget and Management) will be paid for by the department.  Employees are to purchase the shoes and submit an original receipt for reimbursement.  The employee is responsible for any additional expenses associated with the purchase of job-required safety shoes beyond the reimbursement rate.

Safety shoes purchased must meet the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) F2413 or ANSI Z41 American National Standard for Personal Protection - Protective Foortwear.  The ASTM or ANSI information should be visible on a tag that is attached inside the safety shoe.  The protective toe area can be steel or composite materials as long as the shoe meets the ASTM or ANSI standards.

New Employees

Employees whose job duties require safety shoes will be required to obtain safety shoes during employment.

Enforcement

Once a job has been designated as requiring safety shoes, employees should not be allowed to work without the required foot protection.

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