The shoes or boots you wear to work have much in common with the foundation of the home you live in. For example, your weight is on those shoes all day just as the weight of your home is borne by its foundation. A cracked foundation can’t do its job, and neither can worn-out shoes. One way these differ, of course, is the tops and sides of those shoes also protect your feet.
Another way they differ is having a cracked foundation doesn’t make you feel dog tired at the end of a work day while poorly constructed or worn-out shoes do. What you may not realize is that walking on cement factory floors (or any other hard surface) generates considerable shock with each step and the modern work shoe is designed to mitigate that. Shoes that are not up to par will allow that shock to be transmitted to every joint, including your knees. That shock travels up your entire spine, which means that cheap or worn-out shoes are literally a pain in the neck. Your body naturally tries to absorb the shock through muscular action, and doing this all day is what results in that dog tiredness.
Buying footwear
For electrical work, always choose an electrical hazard (EH)-rated shoe. By definition, it has a safety toe. Many factories and construction sites ban sneakers and other soft canvas shoes. These are not nearly as puncture or cut resistant as are leather shoes (or their composite counterparts). They provide zero crush protection, nearly zero shock protection, and zero spill protection. By contrast, an EH-rated shoe, especially if it has a reinforced upper, provides significant crush protection and significant shock protection. Even ones not rated waterproof provide decent protection against chemicals spilled on your foot.
Traditional safety shoes have a steel toe for crush protection and a steel shank for stability and support. EH shoes will typically use a composite, nylon, or other non-conductive material to provide this same protection. If this reinforced shank is not in the shoe, do not buy that shoe.
While you don’t need the same traction provided by basketball shoes, you do need a slip-resistant outsole. When selecting a new pair of shoes, make sure they are slip-resistant for the type of surface you are walking on. A hard outsole material with ridges may be slip-resistant on turf, but it won’t stick too well to smooth factory floors or tile.
You want a shoe that is well made, not just a set of leather-like uppers glued to a rubber-like sole. These will come apart after some use, rendering the shoes unusable. Yes, you can glue them back together. But they will only separate again. Look for shoes that are properly stitched. Cheap shoes are made with lower-quality methods and lower-quality materials, making them less durable and less comfortable.
Before buying a pair of shoes, try them on for fit and comfort. Do they have a professional look? Does the style fit you? Walk around in them a bit, do they feel secure on your feet or do your feet seem to slide around inside them? What features do they have for breathing and for managing moisture as your feet perspire?
Taking care of those shoes
The biggest mistake people make with their work shoes (or any shoes) is wearing them every day. The cushioning needs time to “reinflate,” and the insides need time to dry out. The simplest solution is to have an even day pair of shoes and an odd day pair of shoes (though on calendar months with 31 days you may need to swap which pair is which).
The second biggest mistake is not keeping them clean and polished. Anyone who has gone through military bootcamp, attended a military academy, or participated in ROTC or JROTC is well-aware of the seeming obsession the military (regardless of branch) has in this regard. It’s not without practical reasons, and there are several.
There’s not a lot you have to do t maintain your shoes, other than rotate between pairs and keep them polished. But if something gets spilled on your shoes, particularly some solvent or other chemical, remove it immediately. If it gets into the material of the upper and saddle soap won’t remove it, the shoes are probably not safe to continue wearing.
Before putting your shoes away each day, turn them over and look at the bottoms. Is there anything disgusting that needs to be removed? Is there a nail, chunk of glass, or other object embedded into the sole?
Finally, shoes don’t last forever. If your shoes start to feel uncomfortable or you seem to get dog-tired every time you wear that pair of shoes (yet another reason to have more than one pair, you have A/B testing and a spare pair!), it’s time to replace them. Your feet, knees, back, and neck will thank you.
