If you require employees to wear protective footwear, you as the employer must provide and pay for it unless the PPE is non-specialty safety-toe protective footwear that you allow employees to wear off the job site.
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You are also not required to pay for logging boots or to reimburse employees if they request to use shoes or boots with built-in metatarsal protection if you already provide metatarsal guards at no cost to them. If workers aren’t required to wear specific safety footwear, you may still choose to defray some of the costs of their protective footwear.
It’s best to have a policy to inform your workers exactly what your safety footwear requirements are and how much of their footwear expense you’ll cover. Here is a sample policy to get you started, written by experts at EHS Hero®!
Sample Protective Footwear Policy
POLICY STATEMENT
The Company makes available a variety of personal protective equipment (PPE) to protect employees from industrial hazards. This policy outlines general Company policies on PPE and the requirements for obtaining Company reimbursement for protective footwear.
Management will evaluate hazards, if any, that may require the use of PPE such as protective footwear and will designate the types of PPE that will protect against these hazards. The hazard assessment will be summarized in writing on the designated Company form, indicating the areas or job titles surveyed and the dates(s) of the survey and be signed by the supervisor.
In general, employees must wear protective footwear when working in areas where there is the danger of foot injuries due to falling or rolling objects, or the danger of objects piercing the sole, and where employees’ feet are exposed to electrical hazards.
Management will arrange to train each employee in the proper and correct use of PPE, proper care and maintenance of the PPE, and useful life of the equipment. Training will include:
- When PPE is necessary;
- Which PPE is necessary;
- How to properly don, doff, adjust, and wear PPE;
- The limitations of the PPE; and
- Proper care, maintenance, useful life, and disposal of PPE.
The supervisor will certify for local records the names of employees who have received the training, the date(s) of the training, and the employee acknowledgment in writing that he/she has received and understands the training.
REQUIREMENTS FOR OBTAINING PROTECTIVE FOOTWEAR
The employee must regularly work in an area that has been designated by the loss-control coordinator as an area where the wearing of protective footwear is required, or the employee must have a job that requires the wearing of protective footwear.
The protective footwear must be obtained from a Company-designated supplier. The specific type of protective footwear (for example, safety-toe shoes, metal-free shoes, or metatarsal guards) that are appropriate for a particular area or type of operation will be determined by the loss-control coordinator.
ELIGIBILITY FOR REIMBURSEMENT OF FOOTWEAR EXPENSE
All full-time and part-time employees whose work requires the wearing of protective footwear will be eligible for reimbursement.
POLICY LIMITATIONS
The loss-control coordinator will determine the amount of company reimbursement for protective footwear annually.
The company’s reimbursement will be limited to no more than two pairs of protective footwear per year. Deviations from this limitation will be determined on a case-by-case basis. Protective footwear must be returned to the loss-control coordinator before replacement will be authorized.
Protective footwear must comply with the following standard of the American National Standards Institute: ANSI Z41.
EMPLOYEE RESPONSIBILITY
The employee will be responsible for the difference between the cost of the protective footwear and the amount of company reimbursement for that footwear.
The employee will be responsible for the reasonable care and maintenance of his or her protective footwear.
The employee will be responsible for wearing the protective footwear during working hours.
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