Understanding burocracy
Standards explained easily
Whoever fullfills hard and dangerous jobs deserves a high level of personal protection. To ensure this, there are safety standards for personal protective equipment, which are uniformly valid in the European Union. These standards are included in the Standard DIN EN ISO 20345:2007 for safety boots. To better understand what stands behind the exact requirements and test procedures of these standards, we extracted and explained some of the most important features.
- Protective midsole
- Shock absorption
- Water vapor permeability
- Water resistance
- Toe protection
Without a yearly compliance audit and certification safety boots must not be sold on the European market. All together over 80 different values are tested, including tear resistance, slip resistance, water resistance and many, many more!
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Protective midsole
Requirements: While walking an pointed object like a nail must not penetrate the sole hurting to the foot. To avoid this, the sole can be provided with a pierce-proof midsole and withstand a pressure of ........Newton.
This corresponds to: A pressure of .......newton is roughly the weight of a .......kg heavy man. Our VÃLKL boots reach .......% of the standard, and thus the protective midsole withstands a weight of ........Kg.
How is it tested? The shoe is rolled over an approximately 4.5 mm wide, blunt nail just as it would imitate the walking movement. The nail penetrates the sole, but must non pentrate the midsole.
VÃLKL Advice: Unfortunately, in the real world nails are thin, pointed and terribly rusty. That's why we build our fire boots with a midsole made of steel. This guarantees you a permanent puncture protection, even if you step on something pointed a little more energetically.
This corresponds to: A pressure of .......newton is roughly the weight of a .......kg heavy man. Our VÃLKL boots reach .......% of the standard, and thus the protective midsole withstands a weight of ........Kg.
How is it tested? The shoe is rolled over an approximately 4.5 mm wide, blunt nail just as it would imitate the walking movement. The nail penetrates the sole, but must non pentrate the midsole.
VÃLKL Advice: Unfortunately, in the real world nails are thin, pointed and terribly rusty. That's why we build our fire boots with a midsole made of steel. This guarantees you a permanent puncture protection, even if you step on something pointed a little more energetically.
Shock absorption
Requirements: In order to assess the comfort of a shoe, the energy absorption is measured in the heel area of the sole. The more energy it absorbs the higher are the dampening properties of the sole. The standard requirements are therefore a minimum energy absorption of 20 joules.
This corresponds to: 20 joules correspond to the energy that a 200 kg heavy body develops when falling from 10 cm. Our VÃLKL boots exceed this standard value by 145 %.
How is it tested? With the heel of a last pressure is exerted onto the sole. A force-displacement curve records how much this sole can be compressed under constantly increasing pressure. If the material does not compress itself with a pressure of under 20 joule, it does not fulfill the requirements.
VÃLKL Advice: In order to ensure an optimal energy absorption of our VÃLKL Professional boots are injcetion moulded. The very light and absorbing PU is distributed under the entire sole to guarantee a great ene
This corresponds to: 20 joules correspond to the energy that a 200 kg heavy body develops when falling from 10 cm. Our VÃLKL boots exceed this standard value by 145 %.
How is it tested? With the heel of a last pressure is exerted onto the sole. A force-displacement curve records how much this sole can be compressed under constantly increasing pressure. If the material does not compress itself with a pressure of under 20 joule, it does not fulfill the requirements.
VÃLKL Advice: In order to ensure an optimal energy absorption of our VÃLKL Professional boots are injcetion moulded. The very light and absorbing PU is distributed under the entire sole to guarantee a great ene
Water vapor permeability
Requirements: To avoid sweaty feet during the daily use, security footwear must not only be waterproof but also breathable. According to the safety footwear standard EN 20345:2012 the leather has to guarantee that at least 0.8 mg of water vapor penetrates in one hour per square centimeter.
This corresponds to: the european standard requires, applicated to a pair of boots and an 8-hour mission, a water vapor permeability of a well filled shot glass (25.6 ml). Our VÃLKL workwear boots reach 525% of the required value. Thus, VÃLKL workwear boot yields nearly a full juice glass of liquid (135 ml) to the environment.
How is it tested? A piece of leather is stretched over the opening of a receptable filled with desiccant. After one hour, in an enviroment surrounded by water vapor a certain amount of water vapor (liquid) has passed through the leather into the desiccant. The permeability can finally be measured by the weight difference of the dessicant.
VÃLKL Advice: We only use high quality leather produced from recognized and certified tanneries for our workwear products. In addition, we use the moisture-absorbing Sympatex membrane to exploit completely the potential of our leathers.
This corresponds to: the european standard requires, applicated to a pair of boots and an 8-hour mission, a water vapor permeability of a well filled shot glass (25.6 ml). Our VÃLKL workwear boots reach 525% of the required value. Thus, VÃLKL workwear boot yields nearly a full juice glass of liquid (135 ml) to the environment.
How is it tested? A piece of leather is stretched over the opening of a receptable filled with desiccant. After one hour, in an enviroment surrounded by water vapor a certain amount of water vapor (liquid) has passed through the leather into the desiccant. The permeability can finally be measured by the weight difference of the dessicant.
VÃLKL Advice: We only use high quality leather produced from recognized and certified tanneries for our workwear products. In addition, we use the moisture-absorbing Sympatex membrane to exploit completely the potential of our leathers.
Water resistance
Requirements: Adverse weather conditions on missions are not uncommon. To ensure that workwear boots can withstand moisture for an acceptable period, the standards require that the used leathers withstand water penetration for at least 60 minutes.
This corresponds to: In the test VÃLKL boots withstood 6 hours with no detectable water penetration. This corresponds to 600% of the required value.
How is it tested? The inside of an upper sample is covered with conductive wires and the whole sample is immersed in electrically charged water. In addition, the machine simulates compression movements of the leather. Once water penetrates the leather, the electric charge stops a timer.
VÃLKL Advice: We only use waterproof quality leathers. Although leather is very resistant by its nature and through special tanning processes, we ensure a double protection by using water-repellent threads.
This corresponds to: In the test VÃLKL boots withstood 6 hours with no detectable water penetration. This corresponds to 600% of the required value.
How is it tested? The inside of an upper sample is covered with conductive wires and the whole sample is immersed in electrically charged water. In addition, the machine simulates compression movements of the leather. Once water penetrates the leather, the electric charge stops a timer.
VÃLKL Advice: We only use waterproof quality leathers. Although leather is very resistant by its nature and through special tanning processes, we ensure a double protection by using water-repellent threads.
Toe protection
Requirements: On a mission it is a possible that a heavy object falls on your feet. In order to protect your toes the european standards for workwear boots require a toe protection that withstands an energy up to 200 joules.
This corresponds to: 200 joules correspond to a 200 kg heavy object falling from one meter onto the toes. Simultaneously 200 joules correspond also to a 2-ton heavy object falling from 10 cm height onto your foot.
How is it tested? A wedge is shot with an energy of 200 joules onto the toe cap. Then the residual height inside at the level of your toes is verified: for a shoe size 43 it must remain at least 14.5 mm of space between the toe cap and bottom of the shoe.
VÃLKL Advice: In VÃLKL we use use, apart of some function related exceptions, steel caps to ensure the highest level of security. Wether there are extreme situations or cold temperatures and forces over 200 joules, it can be excluded that splinters cause grave injuries.
This corresponds to: 200 joules correspond to a 200 kg heavy object falling from one meter onto the toes. Simultaneously 200 joules correspond also to a 2-ton heavy object falling from 10 cm height onto your foot.
How is it tested? A wedge is shot with an energy of 200 joules onto the toe cap. Then the residual height inside at the level of your toes is verified: for a shoe size 43 it must remain at least 14.5 mm of space between the toe cap and bottom of the shoe.
VÃLKL Advice: In VÃLKL we use use, apart of some function related exceptions, steel caps to ensure the highest level of security. Wether there are extreme situations or cold temperatures and forces over 200 joules, it can be excluded that splinters cause grave injuries.