Safety attire in the smithy!

[Jymm Hoffman]

Here is another source for work shoes for wide feet:
Wide Width Steel Toe Boots, Steel Toe Work Boots In Wide Sizes, Extra Wide Steel Toe Boot, Wide Safety Boots, Extra Wide Steel Toe Work Boots And Shoes
I was reluctant to try to buy without trying, but I did buy a pair of shoes from them that do fit my wide foot, walking/work shoes, no steel toe. They request a tracing of your foot with measurements to help in the process. If you don't scuff the shoes up, you can return them. They fit me very nicely. The shoes I bought are actually made in Pennsylvania, a pleasant surprise to me as I too prefer to buy Made in the USA.
I prefer to wear wooden shoes when standing on concrete, as my shop has a concrete floor. Wooden shoes are my everyday work shoe.

[Alan DuBoff]

no need for input here.

[KjZitur]

I would have to vote for red wing boots without steel toes. For me my feet are always cold in them. But according to MythBusters, the steel toed boots are definitely much safer! As for pants Carharts are #1 and Dickies "T" shirts(I love my Dickies!! )

[Marc]

Steel toe boots and amputations. This may be an urban myth. Mythbusters did an episode on this,
Unofficial Mythbusters: Episode 42: Steel Toe Amputation, Bottle Rocket Blast Off
And found that even a 400-lb weight from 6 ft did not cause amputation. Lots of broken bones, but considering the alternative, still better than a regular boot.

I know that Mythbusters doesn't always follow strict scientific principles, but this one seemed accurate enough.

Others have mentioned, prevention is still the better way, and I agree. But accidents do happen. Does eye protection provide a false sense of security? Face shields? My feeling is that if the protection itself doesn't actually present a different safety risk, then it's probably worthwhile.

[ThomasPowers]

Having worked in the oilpatch I can say that steel toed boots are definitely much colder in the winter than non steel toed ones. They don't breath as well so your feet start off damper and then the steel is a much better conductor of heat than leather is.

Also 400#???? We often ran 100,000 pound on the hook and the weight of a triple stand of drill pipe makes 400# look like "office worker" type of problems.

I had a friend who worked as an oilpatch EMT for a while, told me about a lot of "hose jobs" where basically all you could do is to hose the goo of the machinery...(Back when I was working in the patch they stated that 1 in 5 of career oilfield workers would suffer a catastrophic injury during the course of their career...luckily I was a logging geologist and got to spend most of my time in a nice warm clean trailer wondering when the well was going to blow up...)

Thomas

[Candidquality]

I haven't looked for these in years, and don't know if they still exist. Weren't there some steel deflectors that went over shoes a while back? and even if not. Why couldn't you make a pair of covers for your boots, and wear what's most comfortable under them. It seems to make sense to me. I'm sure they're not using anything special for the steel. Wouldn't have to be anything fancy. No reason to make some mirror polished plate armour boots(though that does sound like fun). Just a simple form, shaped on the horn. attached under the shoe through the grooves? I really don't see why this couldn't work. Perhaps one plate for the toe, another for the meta, boht riveted onto a piece of leather that gets laced up?

[Alan DuBoff]

no need for input here.

[Ed Thomas]

Wearing steel toed boots is not even close to the same safety category as safety glasses. I can function with bruised, broken or mashed toes. I can't work without eyes. The odds of getting hit in the eye with debris without safetly glasses is pretty high in a blacksmithing shop. The odds of dropping something crippling on my toes in my shop seems pretty low to me. I actually value my crotch much higher than my toes, and I don't wear a cod-piece.

I do work full-time in my shop and the vises on some of my machines weigh more than some people's anvils. So, yes, the hazard is there. I just try to think before I act and study all the possible ramifications of what I am about to do.

In my opinion, being uncomfortable in boots is a bigger safety hazard than falling weights on my feet.

(Now watch... I'll get back to work now and drop a 400# weight on my foot from 6 feet. Dang! Oh, well. Then lots of people get to say: "I told you so!")

[Ed Thomas]

Addendum to my last post: I do want to concede that when you work with others, you generally need some protection from them even more than from yourself. So a smith would certainly be justified in demanding steel-toed boots on students or employees. They are a good thing; I personally have compromised in favor of comfort. That's all.

[Woody]

Make a list of all the body parts you can live without, now protect the rest.

Woody