Safety footwear for construction sites - what's 'in' at the moment?

[Estimator]

I have to visit sites now and then and I am getting bollocked again by a site manager for wandering round in trainers. :redface:
Even though I tell him I am only there for ten minutes and I am not planning on laying any bricks today thank you, just a quick scan of some some stuff I can't work out from the drawings.
He is right of course - even visitors can tread on a nail.
So I decided on getting some regulation footwear and logged on to a website of a local equipment stockist expecting to see a simple choice of boot or welly.
I was confronted by a mind boggling display of brand names & types, some getting very expensive - Timberland, Dewalt (they make drills don't they!) Cat (come on - they make excavators!) etc etc.
I concluded that builders are like teenagers with trainers, trying to outdo each other with the most expensive designer brand.
So what is the preferred option? - I guess I need crush protection to toes & reinforced sole but some of the boots advertised as 'safety' don't appear to have that.
I notice rigger boots are popular but must be warm in summer. Please help me, I don't want to be singled out for wearing naff footwear - fashion is apparently important on building sites and I don't want them b1tching about me!

 

[SBOnline]

On most sites I have been on in the past the workers wer rigger boots, yes they are warm in the summer, but various linings are available and anything that isn't a flip-flop is warm in the summer anyway.

I have seen different colours, but the most popular colour seems to be sand.

Have a look online for some of the best price deals.

 

[Curious]

Depending on the rules of the site in question they may not allow rigger boots. Some sites don't allow them because they don't offer sufficient ankle support so you might want to check, or er on the side of caution and not get riggers.

If you're not sure about which to get just go into and ask the guys in your local suppliers - i've always found the blokes that work in them to be helpful and able to cut through all the crap.

Without wanting to sound like a be!lend - there is no excuse to not wear ppe on sites. I assume your a boss of some sorts, if your only popping onto site to look at stuff, and you have to set the example to your blokes. It's just a matter of getting into the habit really.

 

[Slartibartfast]

I notice rigger boots are popular but must be warm in summer. Please help me, I don't want to be singled out for wearing naff footwear - fashion is apparently important on building sites and I don't want them b1tching about me!

I've got some treadsafe rigger boots which are quick to put on when needed and were cheap too (around £25 IIRC). One thing with riggers is that they tend to be a loose fit so I wear thick socks with mine. Another option is a safety trainer/shoe type thing.

Just make sure, that whatever you do, never, ever wax or polish them, because EVERYONE will rip the pi$$ out of you (In my defence I waxed them 'cos it had been hammering down all day and I knew I would need them that evening... when it all dried up and the sun came out and there I was in my gleaming boots... sigh )

Try your local army surplus type store, or workwear store. Even Screwfix sell them these days.

Cheers,
Slarti.

 

[Atilla]

Riggers are easy to swap into from standard footwear, but as already pointed out, may not be allowed.

Pop into screwfix and have a look. No need for sturdy high lace up jobbies, just the standard ankle boots.
Avoid trainer types because they might just confue the site Manager again and more importantly, they offer no ankle protection - very painful when you knock against something.

 

[Estimator]

Without wanting to sound like a be!lend - there is no excuse to not wear ppe on sites. I assume your a boss of some sorts, if your only popping onto site to look at stuff, and you have to set the example to your blokes. It's just a matter of getting into the habit really.

I agree with you but it sometimes gets a bit silly. Most of the 'sites' I look at are green fields or occupied offices, houses etc. before they become live jobs.
A local contractor hired me to do a Bills of quants and price up a tender for a school refurbishment.
So i'm standing in the sports hall with hard hat, hi viz jacket and borrowed wellies with steel toe caps depositing muck all over the parquet. They hadn't even taken possession of the site, the irony of having to change my trainers to walk round a functioning sports hall was lost on the site manager. Maybe I could get hit by a basketball or something?

 

[Curious]

So i'm standing in the sports hall with hard hat, hi viz jacket and borrowed wellies with steel toe caps depositing muck all over the parquet. They hadn't even taken possession of the site, the irony of having to change my trainers to walk round a functioning sports hall was lost on the site manager. Maybe I could get hit by a basketball or something?

See it's that kind of situation that drives me to distraction. There is no need for ppe in that instance if you're just walking around a functioning school; a high viz perhaps to mark you out as a visitor but that's ridiculous. Where is the hazard and how can the level of risk be sufficient to require it all?

Stuff like that drives me nuts - it's like when you visit fresh site, no signs up or anything yet and people tell you that hard hats are mandatory- morons.

Sorry to rant, I was only replying to say I wasn't aiming a dig at you. But so check out a local suppliers they'll get you some decent booties for £20-£30 or so.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

The reason you see all of these construction brands is not builders vanity - it is money - the brands a licensed.

 

[A. Plumber]

I have to agree with Curious on this... making people wear PPE when it's unnecessary just makes people resent it. The most ridiculous one I can think of is making people who climb a ladder wear a hard hat. What is that about? Who's going to drop something on their head?

Anyway, I'm guessing Estimator is a fashion victim and should definitely wear a branded product from DeWalt, Caterpillar, etc.