Posted By wayne purchase
hello all,
i have just heard that there is an issue with putting extra innersoles in your safety shoes. it lifts your feet up in to the toe cap flex area and puts the wearer at risk if anything does fall on their feet?

has anyone else heard this as it was word of mouth and i cant find any evidence to back it up??


cheers

wayne

Posted By A Campbell
could be a contender for barmy risk assessments? :0)

Posted By Bill01
By that same reasoning you would need to check sock thickness should per chance someone wear thicker socks or for that matter have bigger chunkier feet than the british standard permits.

Posted By David Gault
I agree with other posts on this point. However, there is a practical point I have genuinely come across which is that if the toes are brought into closer contact with the reinforced toe cap people will wear holes in their socks more quickly (seriously). People will complain about that too. Also closer contact with the toe cap can cause nail discoloration but that is relatively rare. Whichever is the lesser of two evils. I am in the process of trying to source comfortable safety shoes for my company. Yes I know, laughable isn't it. If I find any I might let you know.

Posted By wayne purchase
i really did think this forum was full of professional people, i now feel i was truely mistaken.
i apologise for insulting your interlect with a question so laughable! However my understanding of health and safety is to make sure your staff are safe from harm.
the word of mouth i mention came from our safety boot supplier i will be recieving a bulletin about the issue later.

again many thanks to all you professional people out there i wish i could be as good as you one day!!!

Posted By MickN
Wayne,

I don't believe that anyone is trying to make light of your question, rather, those of us who made lighthearted comments are simply trying to brighten our day (and maybe yours). Your post wouldn't be the most serious of topics ever to have been brought up here and I am concerned that you have taken the comments to heart.

In trying to answer your question in a seroius manner, I would ask that you consider the variation in size/shape of the human foot ampngst a population, even within a single "foot size", and suggest that it makes no difference at all. If the shoe fits (ahem) then it is suitable, in my humble opinion.

Mick

Posted By Bob Shillabeer
My earlier response was no joke, it is very minor whether insoles are used or not. Make sure the shoes or boots are the correct size and fit well even if they have an extra insole put in them. Afterall the most important thing is the shoes fit well, badly fitting shoes can cause serious problems and reduce the likelihood of the being worn at all. I often use insole to combat the smell my feet produce (well acording to my wife anyway), there are several manufacturers on the market for these things. The important point is to ensure the shoes/boots fit corectly in the first place. The posting, although treated as a joke by some, does have an important point in that there is an overiding need to make sure the shoes/boots fit correctly and meet the requirede amount of protection while being comfortable to wear, otherwise is is a waste of time and money.

Posted By wayne purchase
i apologise for the rant everyone!

from what i am being told it is when the original insole is kept in as well as the new after market insole is placed in.
i agree that the shoes and boots should be fitted to the indavidual however thinking about it if a shoe manufactures a shoe to a specification ie the CE approval surely any modification to that specification has breached the CE approval??

so what i am saying and i beleive what my supplier is saying is if they are uncomfortable they are the wrong shoe for you! an alternative is needed,
as for insole for smelly feet there are now aerosols that do a better job

Posted By Russ Lock
Hello everyone.
Just to help try and clear some of the myths and facts up.
I work for a major safety footwear manufacturer and are members of satra who are the independant testing body and a guy from there did a paper in june of 2005 on this very same subject, for which the following is an extract.

REMOVING OR REPLACING OF FOOTBEDS OR INSOCKS IN SAFETY FOOTWEAR.

"Incorporating a footbed can influence key protective features of safety footwear and must be borne in mind when considering removal or replacement later on.
The new suite of European and international safety footwear standards, which include EN ISO 20345:2004, address this problem by requiring user instructions to include warnings about changing footbeds.
Components used in underfoot construction can affect toe protection (you need a minimum internal clearance from the toe, to the top of the toecap after the impact test), electrical resistance (if the footwear is anti-static, you will notice that the insoles have a zig zag stitching into it to allow the static to flow through), energy absorbtion of th the seat region and thermal protection."

sorry it's long winded, but as another person said; it is a peice of ppe and as such should not be tampered with or parts changed unless with another approved part, i.e from the same manufacturer. (i know this is not always possible as a lot of product is imported from the far east)

Posted By Russ Lock
I don't think that what the info is saying is not to change them or add new ones, just that i come across at least 60-70% of the people who ask me this question have bought new insoles and just added them on top of the old ones, thereby decreasing the internal safety clearance in the toecap region.
also if these nice new comfy insoles that are bought from woolies do not have correct anti-static stitching you will not be able to disperse any static, and in a flammable or explosive industry this can be very dangerous.