Winter safety boots on construction sites

Safety: Winter Footwear

All construction workers own and are expected to wear the appropriate approved safety footwear, this footwear is usually the same regardless if you are working inside or outside on a construction project. But when winter arrives and construction continues outside in the wet, cold and snowy weather most workers have a tendency to switch to a different type of footwear.

The footwear they switch to is usually either a winter boot or a work boot that has thinsulate insulation in it.

There are several differences between the two of them;

• Winter work boots are bulkier and heavier than normal work boots. This can make climbing or walking on elevated places more difficult.

• Winter work boots are usually completely waterproof no matter how much snow you’re standing in when working.

• Winter work boots are harder to take off and on when entering or exiting a home.

• Work boots usually have better soles and are able to reduce the risk of slips and fall compared to the bulkier winter boots.

• Work boots can be more easily bought with a composite toe and shank instead of a steel one.
This lightens the boot and helps stop the transfer of cold.

Regardless of what footwear that you choose you will need to make sure that they are safety approved. The boot must have a protective toe and a protective shank between the sole of the boot and the bottom of your foot.

If you are a supervisor you will have to keep an eye out for employee’s that are not wearing safety boots in the winter. Buying winter boots that are not safety are a lot cheaper and some workers will take the risk of not having any safety protection on their feet so that they don’t have to buy another pair of expensive work boots just to work through the cold winter.

There’s nothing worse on a job site then having to take someone to the hospital after they have a nail embedded in the bottom of their foot because they were too cheap to buy a pair of winter safety boots.

So be safe and make sure you and your employee’s have their feet protected.

Rob Abbott
Village Builders Inc.