All footwear manufactured or imported to United States must be tested and certified to ASTM F2412-Standard Test Methods for Foot Protection which is used to test compliance to minimum performance requirements in established safety standards. Consumers need to be confident that the shoes they buy are safe from hazard that could cause injury. As a manufacturer or footwear importer, ensuring the safety and quality of footwear is of the utmost importance.

What is ASTM F2412?

The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) sets standards for a wide range of products, including safety footwear. ASTM F2412-24?is the Standard Test Methods for Foot Protection. ASTM F2412 covers the methods to measure the resistance of footwear to a variety of hazards that can potentially result in injury and be used to test for compliance to minimum performance requirements in established safety standards.

By agreement between the purchaser and the supplier, or as required by established safety standards, these test methods can be used to determine any one, or all of the following:

1. impact resistance (I),
2. compression resistance (C),
3. metatarsal impact resistance (Mt),
4. resistance to electrical conductivity (Cd),
5. resistance to electric hazard (EH),
6. static dissipative performance (SD),
7. puncture resistance (PR).

ASTM F2412 Performance Requirements for Foot Protection

Test methods specified by ASTM F2412 contain requirements to evaluate the performance of footwear for the following:

• Impact resistance for the toe area of footwear (I),
  • Footwear shall be constructed and manufactured so that a protective toe cap is an integral and permanent part of the footwear.
  • Footwear with a protective toe cap is impacted with a specified force.
  • After impact, the height of the modeling clay cylinder is measured.
• Compression resistance for the toe area of footwear (C),
  • Footwear shall be constructed and manufactured so that a protective toe cap is an integral and permanent part of the footwear.
  • Footwear with a protective toe cap is exposed to a compressive force.
  • During application of the compressive force, the interior space of the toe cap is measured using a modeling clay cylinder.
• Metatarsal protection that reduces the chance of injury to the metatarsal bones at the top of the foot (Mt),
  • Footwear shall be constructed and manufactured so that a metatarsal impact guard is positioned partially over the protective toe cap and extended to cover the metatarsal bone area. The metatarsal protection shall be an integral and permanent part of the footwear.
  • Footwear with a protective toe cap and metatarsal guard is impacted with the appropriate force.
  • After impact, carefully remove the wax form from inside the footwear and measure.
• Conductive properties which reduce hazards that may result from static electricity buildup, and reduce the possibility of ignition of explosives and volatile chemicals (Cd),
  • The footwear is placed on a base electrode plate and the second electrode is embedded in a layer of metal spheres which fill the inside of the footwear.
  • Electrical resistance is measured after applying the specified voltage for a prescribed time
• Electric hazard to protect the wearer when accidentally stepping on live electric wires (EH),
• Static dissipative properties to reduce hazards that result from a build up of static charge where there is an underlying risk of accidental contact with live electrical circuits (SD),
• Puncture resistance footwear devices (PR).

More Applicable Standards for Shoes and Footwear Quality Control in the US

Footwear imported and manufactured in the United States is covered by various regulations, standards, and substance restrictions, labeling, and testing requirements.

The OSHA Standard for Safety Shoes (Protective Footwear)

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) sets standards for safety in the workplace. OSHA requires the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) to reduce employee exposure to hazards when engineering and administrative controls are not feasible or effective in reducing these exposures to acceptable levels. Employers are required to determine if PPE should be used to protect their workers.

PPE is addressed in specific standards for general industry, shipyard employment, marine terminals, and longshoremen. The standards for “general industry” in 29 CFR 1910 applicable to protective footwear are:

• 29 CFR 1910.132, General requirements (personal protective equipment)
• 29 CFR 1910.136, Occupational foot protection

OSHA requires that protective footwear comply with one or more of the following standards:

• ASTM F2412 – Standard Test Methods for Foot Protection, which is incorporated by reference in 29 CFR 1910.6 for 29 CFR 1910.136;
• ASTM F2413 – Standard Specification for Performance Requirements for Protective Footwear, which is incorporated by reference in in 29 CFR 1910.6 for 29 CFR 1910.136;
• ANSI Z41 – American National Standard for Personal Protection – Protective Footwear

While ASTM F2412 is a test method that requires protective footwear to resist potentially dangerous hazards such as chainsaw cuts and electric shocks, ASTM F2413 includes tests requiring the protective footwear to fit the wearer, function, and perform as designed.

Read More：?US revises ASTM f2413-18 for performance requirements of protective footwear

ASTM Standards: Footwear

Sending your footwear products for testing against ASTM standards helps to ensure their safe use, even if many of these standards are voluntary. Additionally, if federal or state regulations cite or incorporate relevant standards, it becomes mandatory to comply with them.

Here are some examples of ASTM standards that cover footwear quality control:

• ASTM F2232 – Standard Test Method for Determining the Longitudinal Load Required to Detach High Heels from Footwear: Proper performance of this test method requires the height of the footwear’s heel to be 20 mm (13/16 in.) or more
• ASTM F2892 – Standard Specification for Performance Requirements for Soft Toe Protective Footwear (Non-Safety / Non-Protective Toe): requires footwear devices to be puncture resistant.
• ASTM F1818 – Standard Specification for Foot Protection for Chainsaw Users: requires foot protective devices to be resistant to cuts by power chainsaws
• ASTM F539 – Standard Practice for Fitting Athletic Footwear: requires athletic footwear, such as those for running, tennis, and basketball, to properly fit the wearer
• ASTM F1117 – Standard Specification for Dielectric Footwear: requires dielectric overfoot and overshoe footwear to provide the wearer with added insulation and isolation.

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