EN ISO 20345 – Personal protective equipment, safety shoes
The standard EN ISO 20345 defines both the basic and additional requirements for safety shoes for commercial use. Footwear in accordance with EN ISO 20345 is intended to protect the wearer from bumps, crushing, falling or rolling objects, from walking into sharp or pointed objects, heat or cold, and hot substances.
Examples of aspects dealt with in the standard are handling mechanical risks, slip resistance, thermal risks and ergonomic properties. Additional standards relating to individual activities deal with risks in relation to footwear with electrical insulation, for example, and shoes to protect against chemicals, etc.
The basic requirements described in EN ISO 20345 include:
height of the upper
heel area on boots
minimum length, pressure and bump impact resistance of the toe cap
water vapour permeability and water vapour number of the upper
outsole thickness and abrasion resistance of the outsole
Safety footwear is divided into different protection classes depending on the requirements fulfilled. The safety footwear in protection class SB fulfil the minimum requirements in accordance with EN ISO 20345.
uvex 2 safety shoe during testing
uvex safety footwear range

Understanding the new protection levels
Under the 2011 standard, the protection levels were divided into six classes: SB, S1, S2, S3, S4 and S5. Under the new standard, there are now eight main protection classes: SB, S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6 and S7.
The two new protection classes – S6 and S7 – are used to indicate those with higher water resistance properties in line with the new ‘WR’ certification (see above section on water resistance). In addition to the new classes, the class codes may also be followed by ‘P’, ‘L’ (or ‘PL’) and ‘S’ (or ‘PS’) to indicate additional perforation resistance in line with the ‘P’, ‘PL’ and ‘PS’ certifications.
Using the chart below, you can identify the protection level you require based on your specific workplace risk requirements.