Forging a Confident Connection to Footwear
Ensuring optimal fit, durability and protection is critical for worker performance and safety.
- By Dan Feeney
- Nov 19, 2024
Workers demand the best gear to perform challenging tasks in dynamic environments to earn their livelihood. Due to the inherent risks on the job, the United States Congress enacted the Occupational Safety and Health Act in 1970, stipulating specific standards to keep workers safe. Mirrored by similar measures enacted worldwide, these safety acts protect hundreds of thousands of workers from injury.
Standards include requirements that shoes worn on the job have specific features such as safety toes to prevent crushing of the forefoot, stiff and slip-resistant soles, and typically have a height requirement to provide ankle support. Shoe durability is also critical because of the difficult conditions and potential impact of breakage on income.
The fit of work boots is tantamount to other safety features. Workers, employers, and governmental agencies need to understand more about optimizing fit since:
• For most workers, their feet do not match the shape of their footwear.
• Footwear that does not fit appropriately is associated with pain and risk of injury.
• Footwear designed to wrap and conform to the foot dramatically improves performance in a laboratory and real-world setting.
While safety toes, rigid boot cuffs, and stiff, puncture-resistant soles have prevented many injuries, they create unique challenges in finding an optimal fit for workers, which may cause different injuries and inefficiencies on the job.
Traditional methods of footwear manufacturing coupled with common safety features make it difficult to find shoes that protect against hazards while fitting well to ensure a secure heel lock for long days on the job. Most shoes are manufactured using a “U-Throat”—a broad opening on either side of the tongue cut into the shape of a “U.” Footwear maker have employed this method since the 19th century, because it is efficient for factories.
When manufacturers combine a U-Throat with a safety toe, it can create a bubbling effect in the fore and midfoot. Shoes are so voluminous that workers need to find a way to secure the midfoot and heel.
Because the optimal fit of shoes is primarily associated with holding the instep, workers compensate for the looser forefoot by selecting too much lace tension right over the instep. This practice inadvertently causes reduced circulation and pressure points as workers over tension laces to get the heel hold they need.
Additionally, the midfoot undergoes up to 30 degrees of motion during walking, so overtightening the product here can cause inefficiencies in every step during the day, leading to increased fatigue. A solution for this problem is brands releasing products designed to wrap over the midfoot, conforming to the instep with broad panel structures, eschewing—or modifying—a traditional U Throat and moving the ‘closure’ to the lateral side of the foot, which can be more significantly effective in creating heel hold.
Intending to create stable and durable products, work boot manufacturers often design rigid shafts and soles. However, too much rigidity creates inefficient movements and alters how workers move throughout the day. Research on how workers navigate a work environment found that boots with different, targeted stiffness between the sole and shaft created the safest shoe, and reduced worker slip risk.
Also, workers preferred shoes with a stiff sole and flexible shaft, which significantly affected the pressured distribution on their feet and is a primary risk factor for metatarsal fracture. Workers should try on multiple products to find a boot that does not overly restrict movement, conforms to their midfoot, locks the heel into place, and has a shaft that supports the ankle without excess rigidity. Footwear makers should use these findings and innovative materials to create safer end products that tune the stiffness in the sole, shaft, and upper for various needs.
There is good reason to try on multiple options and seek shoes that conform to your foot before buying: footwear and products designed to fit and conform to feet can often be perceived immediately and may reduce injury risk. Moreover, when manufacturers design shoes to conform to key aspects of the foot, such as the instep, they materially improve heel hold without excessive pressure points, ultimately allowing safety toes to protect the foot without causing detrimental changes in how workers move through the day.
This article originally appeared in the November/December 2024 issue of Occupational Health & Safety.