Are these boots made for work?
Work boots may seem like a ubiquitous piece of protective gear in workplaces, but finding footwear that fits is vital and injuries can be serious.
Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 44,970 non-fatal occupational foot injuries and illnesses across all industries in 2020.
While boots can’t offer 100% protection, they do reduce workplace injuries, whether it’s preventing a nail from piercing an ankle or preventing tendinitis by providing adequate support. New advances in materials science and a focus on adapting to each worker have made work boots more comfortable and easier to wear.
Puncture-resistant footwear continues to be in demand, said Jordan Gottke, vice president of work boot wholesaler Georgia Boot. But not everyone who needs puncture protection also requires other common safety boot features, such as metatarsal guards or steel toes. Startups are addressing this need.
Manufacturers have created options that include just this safety feature, so workers don’t have to pay for extras that can weigh shoes down and cost more.
The metatarsal guards have also changed.
“A lot of times, it used to be a really metallic black, and it would just be a flap on the top of the shoe that looked ridiculous and really ugly,” Gottke said. Now, workers can buy internal metatarsal guards that go inside the shoe, which is more comfortable and doesn’t change the look of the boot from the outside.
“The technology has gotten so good that the person wearing it can’t even tell it’s there,” Gottke said.
A shoe
The biggest change in terms of safety, however, has been in better cushioning and comfort, which can prevent the types of stress injuries, such as tendinitis, plantar fasciitis and stress fractures, that accumulate with the weather. Repetitive actions such as bending or lifting often create stress on workers’ bodies and cause injuries.
Advances in materials science have allowed for new options for things like memory foam and insoles, especially polyurethane, which can make boots less heavy to be in for hours on end.
“The construction of footwear or even work boots in general hadn’t changed much in the last 10 years or even the last 30 years,” Gottke said. “In terms of technology, what you see, especially in work boots, is newer material and a newer way of doing things.”
General trends in footwear, with the rise in popularity of the Sketchers and Hoka brands, and sneaker and sneaker combinations like those made by Kenneth Cole with Nike technology, means that users can expect more comfort.
Andrew Estey
Permission granted by QLTY
That doesn’t mean work boots will look like running shoes anytime soon, said Andrew Estey, co-founder and CEO of Denver-based QLTY Work Boots.
“I think you’re seeing an old-school approach being married with a modern take on what the visual language of boot design looks like,” Estey said.
Shoes that fit everyone
Women in construction have long had to wear the men’s size that best fits their feet.
Not only did this mean his boots didn’t always fit, but it also made finding boots difficult for women with a shoe size 7 or smaller (equivalent to a men’s size 5.5) especially difficult, said Emily Soloby, founder of Juno Jones Safety Boots, which makes work boots for women .
Emily Soloby
Courtesy of Juno Jones Safety Boots
Women make up 11% of the construction workforce, according to the latest edition of the US Data from the Office of Labor Statistics. this number has grown in recent yearsbut it’s still a fraction of the overall industry, meaning that making products for them is less profitable than making products for men.
Employers who ignore the problem may not be able to do much more. In July, the Labor Department proposed a rule change to clarify this personal protective equipment for construction workers must fit, pointing to the longstanding problem for younger construction workers, especially women.
“If personal protective equipment does not fit properly, an employee can be unprotected or dangerously exposed to hazards and face tragic consequences,” Doug Parker, OSHA Assistant Secretary, he said in a statement. “We look forward to hearing from stakeholders on this important issue as we work together to ensure that construction workers of all genders and sizes are properly equipped with safety gear.”
Boots are part of that equation, Soloby said. Juno Jones Safety Boots, which launched through a Kickstarter campaign in 2020, uses a women’s shoe last, which is the foot-shaped model that a shoe or boot is designed to, to make boots for women instead of reducing a man-shaped model.
She hopes the success of companies like Juno Jones will prompt other companies to reconsider their stance on making PPE for women and how they do it.
“Maybe other companies will start to see that more and more women are entering the industry and will offer more deals,” she said.
