Many workplaces harbour numerous injury risks for employees and their feet: tools falling to the ground or pointed objects lying around on the floor can quickly become a danger. Safety shoes are, therefore, obligatory in certain professions. However, wearers today ask for much more than protection alone, as comfort and ergonomics are becoming increasingly important. The latest models fulfil all these requirements with, for example, modern sole technology and optimal cushioning. Comprehensive solutions also protect feet suffering from deformations or ailments.
Legal guidelines stipulate the protective functions that safety shoes have to fulfil. In addition, employees wearing them also expect the best possible comfort, as they have to wear the shoes for several hours every day. Their joints and muscles are subject to increased strain due to work which involves a lot of standing, kneeling or walking. And, when employees have to work on hard industrial floors, this can also result in health problems such as worn muscles or back strain as well as joint problems. Comfortable foot protection with increased wearing comfort counteracts this problem and also promotes the health of the workforce. Safety shoes can, after all, only really protect the feet if employees also like wearing them and wear them whenever needed.
New generation of wearing comfort
When it comes to comfort in foot protection, criteria such as modern cushioning concepts play a key role. The latest shoe models offer such a sole technology. Elten’s “Wellmaxx” series, for example, uses the material Infinergy® within the sole core of the outsole construction. This BASF development consisting of expanded thermo-plastic polyurethane ensures the comfortable cushioning of the foot with thousands of tiny foam particles containing extremely small enclosed air cells. This allows the sole to be really compressed and to cushion the impact of the foot particularly well. If the pressure decreases, the sole springs back to its original shape. In this way the energy is absorbed with each step but largely also returned to the wearer.
Comfortable and perfectly fitting shoes are also important if the wearer has foot problems. Diabetes or rheumatism sufferers may for example, have nerve damage in their feet. As polyneuropathy (PNP) leads to the skin being more sensitive, ill-fitting footwear can quickly cause pressure points or sores. As PNP sufferers often do not perceive their pain immediately or sometimes not at all, infections, wounds and sores can occur without the wearers even noticing. Models such as Elten’s “Dialution” protect sensitive feet with diabetes and rheumatism-adapted support. Details such as a particularly wide upper entry point, a high and wide toe protection cap, a reinforced heel and hardly any irritating seams support feet suffering from any health problems. A removable inner shoe ensures any wound secretion is taken away from the foot. This helps prevent injury as a result of PNP and promotes the healing process of any damage. The “Dialution” can also aid malpositions and deformations such as hallux valgus, claw toe and overlapping toe. The upper material Cordura also helps the shoe to adapt to the respective foot deformity as it can be heatshaped. As a comprehensive solution, it also protects feet suffering from health problems – from diabetes related foot syndrome to deformed toes.