Today, wearing working boots are considered a part of standard worker’s equipment. The OSHA regulation demands that workers have to wear protective gear according to the industry manual. But, that wasn’t always the case.
People of the old used various ways to protect themselves during work. Working boots didn’t come into the picture until in the last century!
Yet, they revolutionized how people work forever.
Why You Need To Invest In Protective Gear
If you are in construction or manual work of any kind and you don’t know brands like Carhartt, Rocky, Caterpillar, Lacrosse, or Thorogood you are at a big disadvantage. And, if you really wanted to help yourself you would put overlookboots.com/collections/rocky in your browser and save yourself a lot of trouble.
The protective gear provides such an amazing return of investment due to its ability to protect workers, increase productivity, and reduce the time on working sites. Buying protective boots is the fastest way to ensure the safety of workers.
Sure, there still may be incidents like parts falling on worker’s feet, punctures, and even release of hazardous materials. Yet, with a right of pair of boots selected for a specific workplace, you can minimize damage totally.
And, the reduction of damage was the initial break which made people pursue new means to protect their feet.
Origins Of Protective Gear
When you look at the boots of today, they are easily recognizable models. You recognize them by color, shape, and features that give an aura comfortable security. Yet, when boots first came in existence they weren’t boots at all. They were clogs.
Clogs were first used in farming. Workers wanted to prevent sharp objects and tools from hurting their feet. And, they also wanted to prevent animals such as horses and cows from breaking their feet and toes accidentally.
These “shoes” were made of hard and strong wood, with additional layers of leather. This way, the farmers could protect their feet enough to block various work hazards. Yet, a farm looks medieval when you compare it to a contemporary construction site.
As the news age dawned upon humanity, they needed a new way to protect themselves while working with machines for the new century.
Need For A New Type Of Protection
When capitalism changed the structure of work and workplace, workers needed to adapt as well. As machines took over and replaced much of the human labor, the job of workers switched to controlling and manipulating the machine.
What was previously impossible to perform, now was possible and it could be done in less time than with a pure human labor. But, machines were a hazard of their own. They could break and malfunction, leaving the area around them prone to damage.
This was especially true in weapons and war manufacturing, where this kind of manufacture was mandatory. Therefore, Germans were the first to capitalize on the good old clogs and develop boots from them.
They needed them as protection against sharp objects and hazards. And, while the World War ended, the need for boots didn’t. With a rise of the new economy came new technologies, and came to a need for better protection at the workplace.
New Technologies
During the 60s and 70s, people around the world adopted new techs and new workplaces. Thus, they weren’t restrained by heights when designing new buildings. Or, they weren’t comforted by the hazards of chemicals as they created new research facilities.
Thus, there was a need to improve protective gear to allow workers prolonged work in various environments, harsh temperatures, chemical hazards, and risky construction sites. And, the more they’ve built, they needed a new assurance that the workers are going to be both safe and comfortable during the work hours.
So, there arose a need for a new kind of boots. These boots needed to be comfortable, safe, and durable. But, before anything else, these boots needed to reinforce the front of the boot. And, it was the moment where the steel-toe reinforcement was invented.
The technology was simple but revolutionary. The manufactures would reinforce the front of the boot with steel to protect the front of the foot from punctures and sharp objects. Later on, they would add composite materials and even steel alloys.
However, a true change came when manufacturers added additional materials and technologies to provide more features for the workers. Now, the workers could work in colder or hotter environments due to insulation.
Or, they could work longer due to the durability of the materials. And, work on higher grounds due to better grip on the soles. Manufacturing followed science and technology to a new height and allowed the workers to do perform better.
A Workplace Of Tomorrow
Boots came a long way from farm clogs. Today, you can wear them for various occasions, and they are mandatory for almost all manual labor jobs.
The boots of today allow you the highest performance possible. The only thing you need to do is to wear them.
