Protective work shoes are the most important protection for the wearer, which is the raison d'être of protective work shoes. The basic requirements are laid down in the EN 20345 standard, which is valid throughout Europe, and a number of other standards and rules. If the basic requirements are met, the main focus is on comfort as an extremely important user criterion. Comfort determines whether the shoe fits and whether it allows fatigue-free and comfortable running during the entire wearing time (perhaps 8 hours during the day).
Every foot is like the other? No!
The challenge is that hardly any two feet are the same, but the protective work shoes still have to fit. The various often described foot shapes (there are even more variants than shown here) give an impression of this. Whether this classification is scientifically proven is largely unclear. In any case, as you can see, there is no "standardized" foot.
Determine the shape of the foot for the perfect safety shoe
You can clearly see that it is an enormous challenge for shoe manufacturers to offer the right occupational safety shoe that corresponds to the shape of the foot. This challenge leads many shoe manufacturers to develop foot measurement systems that are intended to enable individual adaptation of the occupational safety shoe to the shape of the foot. This is common practice in the private orthopaedic shoe sector. Despite all theoretically possible shoe variants (especially in the forefoot area), it has been shown that two parameters in particular play the most important role in the practice of occupational safety shoes, namely the foot length and the foot width.
Foot shape, instep height and foot circumference
In addition, instep height and foot circumference are recorded in so-called Mondopoint tables (according to ISO 9407:2019), for both men and women. There is a Mondopoint measuring device for this purpose, but this measurement can also be determined manually with a measuring tape at the widest point of the foot via the metatarsophalangeal joint of the big and little toe.
The two tables below show the foot length for the respective shoe size and the foot width in grey.
Width table for foot circumference data
The company Uvex has published a width table with the foot circumference data practiced by this company (below):
| Shoe size | Foot Length | Width 10 Circumference |
Width 11 Circumference |
Width 12 Circumference |
Width 14 Circumference |
| 35 | 217 | 216,5 | 222,5 | 228,5 | 240,5 |
| 36 | 225 | 221 | 227 | 233 | 245 |
| 37 | 232 | 225,5 | 231,5 | 237,5 | 249,5 |
| 38 | 240 | 230 | 236 | 242 | 254 |
| 39 | 247 | 234,5 | 240,5 | 246,5 | 258,5 |
| 40 | 255 | 239 | 245 | 251 | 263 |
| 41 | 262 | 243,5 | 249,5 | 255,5 | 267,5 |
| 42 | 270 | 248 | 254 | 260 | 272 |
| 43 | 277 | 252,5 | 258,5 | 264,5 | 276,5 |
| 44 | 285 | 257 | 263 | 269 | 281 |
| 45 | 292 | 261,5 | 267,5 | 273,5 | 285,5 |
| 46 | 300 | 266 | 272 | 278 | 290 |
| 47 | 307 | 270,5 | 276,5 | 282,5 | 294,5 |
| 48 | 315 | 275 | 281 | 287 | 299 |
| 49 | 322 | 279,5 | 285,5 | 291,5 | 303,5 |
| 50 | 330 | 284 | 290 | 296 | 308 |
| 51 | 337 | 288,5 | 294,5 | 300,5 | 312,5 |
| 52 | 345 | 293 | 299 | 305 | 317 |
Note: There are other length/width systems in the USA, Asia and also in other European countries outside Germany and Italy. The system can also be different in France.
The right safety shoe – Important to know.
Although many manufacturers deviate from these measurement tables, they do provide a good indication for the selection of safety shoes according to the shoe width. Although about 80% of wearers of protective work shoes need shoes with widths of normal width (width 11) and extra wide (width 12), shoe manufacturers are very keen to offer shoes in widths 8, 9, 10, 13, and 14. This is the only way to achieve the incomparable comfort effect of a shoe collection for all users. The manufacturers and safety consultants of the sales department provide the technical assistance that is important for the user to choose the right shoes.
The protection professionals recommend
When buying protective work shoes, always make sure they have a comfortable fit. In our opinion, protection and comfort are more important than appearance!