Warehouse workers walk long distances, carry heavy loads and spend hours on their feet. Not taking the appropriate measures to prevent accidents on each shift can have negative consequences. According to the HSE, over 500,000 workers in the UK sustained a non-fatal injury at work with 17% of these accidents involving handling or carrying.
Moreover, facilities present potential hazards that can cause harm to your crew’s feet. Two of the biggest issues this sector faces are falling objects and slips, trips and falls. Wearing safety footwear can help protect your employees from these injuries and more. Additionally, high-quality warehouse safety shoes can improve their health and well-being plus keep their feet comfortable and dry in fast-paced working environments.
What exactly are the standards that warehouse safety must meet? In this post, we will review the top 5 standards for warehouse safety shoes and how Shoes For Crews’ slip-resistant outsoles can best protect your workers.
1. Proper toe protection
Warehouse safety shoes are not only designed to protect against minor bumps and bruises, but they are required to provide adequate toe protection. Steel or composite toed shoes must have 200 joules of resistance. Footwear in accordance with ISO standards is intended to protect your crew from crushing, falling or rolling objects.
In fact, the risk of falling objects like dropped boxes or equipment pose some of the greatest risks for warehouse crews. Safety footwear with closed seat regions, meaning the heels are fully enclosed, can best protect your employees’ feet from injury.
2. Uppers made from specific materials
Materials such as leather and mesh will not only be more durable, but also breathable and more comfortable. In fact, safety shoes with leather uppers are not only more natural to wear, but properly fitted footwear protects against aches and pains as well as strain-related issues. Footwear that is too tight often causes problems with the forefoot, leading to an unstable stance and thus increasing the risk of a fall.
Along with natural or recyclable materials, our Shoes For Crews warehouse safety shoes’ lightweight design and added depth to the heel can provide an enormous relief on the joints and knees as well as help protect the musculoskeletal system.
3. Warehouse safety shoes that are metal free
While this requirement largely depends on the job role and facility, warehouse safety footwear that contains no metal is ideal for workplaces that have high security with detectors. If your team has metal-free safety shoes, this will eliminate the need and hassle of removing them when they arrive and start work.
Additional features that go above the minimum safety requirements include: antistatic properties, energy absorbing heels and puncture resistance, which can all be found in our Shoes For Crews’ safety shoes.
