Often overlooked, footwear soles are essential for ensuring the safety and comfort of workers. By providing support, stability, and protection, safety soles act as a shield to prevent accidents and injuries in your workplace.
In this article, discover the different characteristics of safety soles (cleanliness, anti-perforation, and wear), the types of risks they can mitigate, and how to choose the right sole for your professional environment.
The different categories of safety footwear
Before delving into the details, it is important to understand that there are two types of safety footwear soles: interior and exterior soles.
Interior soles (first cleanliness layer)
Interior soles, also known as the first cleanliness layer, play a crucial role in the comfort and protection of the foot throughout the workday.
→ Abrasion Resistance: Cleanliness soles are designed to be durable and resistant to daily wear. They are made with robust materials that withstand friction and abrasion well, ensuring increased longevity of the footwear.
→ Good Water Absorption and Desorption Capacity: Cleanliness soles can quickly absorb and desorb water, helping to keep feet dry. This property is particularly important in work environments where conditions can be humid.
→ Permeability: Cleanliness soles are permeable, allowing better air circulation around the foot. This helps regulate temperature and prevent moisture buildup, offering extra comfort throughout the day.
→ Compliance with EN ISO 20345 Standard: Cleanliness soles meet the requirements of the EN ISO 20345 standard for safety footwear. They must successfully pass shock, crush, antistatic, heel shock absorption tests, and meet all other standard requirements, including a minimum thickness of 2 mm at the front to ensure adequate protection and foot comfort.
→ Polyurethane (PU) Foam: This is a lightweight and flexible material, ideal for providing cushioning and prolonged comfort. PU foam is highly abrasion-resistant and maintains its shape over time, helping to provide good support throughout the day.
→ Activated Charcoal: Used for its antibacterial properties and neutralizing effect on odors. It plays a crucial role in moisture absorption, contributing to overall comfort and better hygiene of interior soles.
→ Memory Foam: This type of foam perfectly adapts to the foot's morphology, offering personalized comfort. It is excellent for reducing pressure points and improving shock absorption, helping to prevent fatigue and pain associated with prolonged use.
→ Recycled PET Textile Coating: Made from recycled plastic bottles, this material helps reduce environmental impact while providing a pleasant surface for the foot. Recycled PET is an eco-friendly alternative that contributes to reducing plastic waste.
→ Recycled PU Foam: Composed of 78% recycled materials from production waste, this foam combines comfort and lightness while being eco-friendly. By reusing production waste, we reduce our ecological footprint while offering a performant and durable product.
Anti-Perforation Soles
Anti-perforation soles are designed to protect against sharp and pointed objects on the ground, which is essential in environments like construction sites or workshops.
→ Enhanced Perforation Protection: These soles incorporate specific protective layers to prevent sharp objects, like nails or metal debris, from piercing the sole. This protection is crucial for preventing serious injuries that can occur in hazardous work environments.
→ Compliance with Safety Standards: All our models are tested to ensure compliance with EN ISO 20345 regulation, with perforation resistance tests conducted using a 4.5mm or 3mm point depending on the type of anti-perforation insert, to evaluate the effectiveness of the inserts.
→ Metallic Inserts: Traditionally made of steel, these inserts offer robust protection against sharp objects. They are often used in particularly dangerous work environments.
→ Non-Metallic Inserts: Made from composite materials or synthetic fibers, these inserts are lightweight while offering effective protection against perforations. They are often chosen for their increased comfort and flexibility compared to metallic inserts.
Exterior Soles (or Wear Soles)
Exterior soles provide exceptional grip and wear resistance, ensuring the safety and stability of workers on various types of surfaces.
→ Wear Resistance: Exterior soles are made from robust materials like nitrile rubber and polyurethane, known for their durability and abrasion resistance.
→ Exceptional Grip: They are designed to offer maximum grip, essential for preventing slips and falls. The sole patterns, such as cleats or grooves, are molded to enhance grip, even on wet or oily surfaces. The soles also feature self-cleaning cleats, allowing mud to clear away and ensure continuous traction.
→ Adaptation to Different Terrains and Work Environments: Depending on the specific needs of workers related to their work environment, expectations will vary. Thus, exterior soles adapt to various types of surfaces, ranging from loose and rugged terrains to industrial environments and smooth surfaces, remaining stable and secure.
→ Cutaway Heel and Ladder Grip System: Some exterior soles are equipped with a cutaway heel and a ladder grip system, meeting specific LG (ladder grip) standards. This special design ensures increased safety when using ladders, offering better stability and reducing the risk of slipping.
→ Nitrile Rubber: Known for its high resistance to extreme temperatures and low-concentration chemicals at ambient temperature, nitrile rubber is ideal for challenging work environments.
→ Polyurethane (PU): Lightweight, flexible, and abrasion-resistant, PU is often used for its durable and comfortable properties. It is a material of choice for soles that need to offer long life without sacrificing comfort
Choosing the right safety footwear soles is essential to ensure not only your safety but also the comfort and durability of your footwear in various professional environments.
Choosing Soles Based on Risks
Slip risks are common in environments where floors may be wet, oily, or unstable. To ensure optimal safety, it is essential to choose SRC-marked soles, which offer maximum grip and effectively prevent accidents.
The Lemaitre Sécurité choice → TRAIL PU2D Sole:
+ Suitable for various terrains with self-cleaning lugs that adapt to all types of surfaces.
+ 15 mm stepped heel for increased safety, especially on ladders.
+ Ideal for public works, road maintenance, utilities, landscaping, and outdoor activities.
+ Patented Parabolic® Technology: On soft ground, the peripheral part of the sole contacts the surface first, providing enhanced grip. The sole is well anchored without sinking excessively, ensuring optimal stability.
Perforation risks are prevalent in environments where sharp objects may litter the ground, such as construction sites, mechanical workshops, and demolition areas. To effectively protect against these dangers, it is essential to have robust anti-perforation soles and high-performance outsoles.
Our S1P, S1PS, S1PL, S3, S3S, S3L, S7, S7S, and S7L safety shoes provide reliable protection against perforation risks, ensuring your safety even in the most demanding working conditions.
At Lemaitre, we go beyond standard safety norms by developing innovative solutions.
We have created the Duo Protection® patent, specifically designed for the construction sector, offering enhanced protection against sharp objects on site.
This patent ensures maximum protection, exceeding the EN ISO 20345 standard requirements through the use of high-quality materials and smart design.
The Lemaitre Sécurité choice → The ENDURO S3 SRC shoe, equipped with the patented Duo Protection® solution, specifically designed for the construction industry, provides exceptional protection against perforation risks.
With its dual anti-perforation inserts, the Duo Protection® solution offers effective protection against sharp objects on site:
+ High-tenacity composite textile anti-perforation insert with “0” penetration: ensures 100% protection of the arch.
+ Stainless steel anti-perforation insert: offers over 80% higher performance compared to textile inserts alone.
Thermal risks include exposure to extreme temperatures, whether intense cold or high heat, often encountered in metallurgical industries, outdoor work, or foundry environments.
The Lemaitre Sécurité choice → TRAIL VIBRAM® Sole:
+ Resistant to heat up to 300°C (HRO standard), with contact heat resistance.
+ Lugged design for superior grip.
+ Developed in partnership with Vibram® for excellent wear resistance.
+ Ideal for extremely hot surfaces, providing effective protection in challenging climatic conditions.
Electronic risks are present in work environments where employees may be exposed to electrostatic sources. Soles must therefore provide protection against electrostatic discharges, known as ESD (ElectroStatic Discharge) protection.
To ensure this protection, both the insole and the outsole must comply with ESD standards. If either part is not compliant, ESD protection will not be effective.
It is important to note that ESD shoes are not suitable for live electrical work. This distinction is essential to ensure safety in environments where the risk of electrocution is present.
How to choose the right soles?
Specific risks related to the work environment
The first step in choosing the right safety soles is to analyze the potential hazards in your work environment.
Every workplace presents specific risks, whether they are slips, punctures, chemicals, extreme temperatures, or electrical hazards.
To select soles that offer the best protection, it is essential to:
+ Conduct a risk assessment: Identify common hazards and evaluate their frequency and severity.
+ Consult safety experts: Safety specialists can provide personalized recommendations based on their experience and knowledge of safety standards. They can help choose soles suitable for specific situations.
Current Standards and Regulations
Safety footwear soles must meet strict standards to ensure their effectiveness and safety. It is crucial to comply with these standards to protect workers.
Ensure that the soles conform to standards such asEN ISO 20345. These standards define the minimum requirements for safety footwear soles, including impact resistance, puncture resistance, slip resistance, and other essential criteria.
Maintenance and Replacement of Your Footwear Soles
To maintain the effectiveness of your safety footwear soles, it is essential to regularly maintain them and replace them as soon as they show signs of wear.
Proper regular maintenance extends the lifespan of the soles and ensures they continue to offer optimal protection. This includes regular cleaning, inspection for wear signs, and the application of specific maintenance products if necessary.
However, when the soles are too worn or damaged, they must be replaced. Worn soles can compromise the safety and comfort of workers.
Generally, it is recommended to check the soles every six months and replace them at least once a year, or more frequently in case of excessive wear.
Some Lemaitre Sécurité models feature a wear indicator integrated into the sole, indicating the maximum acceptable wear level. This practical feature helps maintain a high level of safety without guessing the wear state of your soles.
Conclusion
By choosing soles adapted to the specific risks of your work environment, complying with current safety standards, and ensuring regular maintenance, you can guarantee high protection and extend the lifespan of your safety footwear.