Hazard Match · free
Build Your Footwear Checklist
Select a trade or hazards to organize questions about toe protection, markings and material exposure. Confirm every requirement with your employer’s workplace assessment. An unchecked hazard is not assumed absent, and this tool does not approve a boot.
Your checklist prints here
Pick a trade, or tick the hazards
You get questions about toe protection, markings and features to verify with your employer. Nothing leaves your browser.
Common starting points
Eight trade examples with some possible hazards preselected. They are incomplete prompts, not assessments of your work. Review all hazards with your employer.
Concrete & framing
Wet cement can cause chemical burns. Have the employer select protective boots and other PPE for the exact material and exposure, with sufficient height to keep cement out. A waterproof leather-work-boot claim does not establish suitability for a pour.
Electrician
Read the EH mark, not the toe material. EH is secondary protection in dry conditions and never replaces de-energizing the circuit.
Warehouse & logistics
Ask which impact, compression and floor-related protection the workplace assessment requires. Neither a warehouse job title nor an unchecked box establishes that soft-toe footwear is suitable.
Landscaping & grounds
Wet turf and mud push waterproofing and ankle support; a toe cap matters if you run mowers and trimmers or haul stone.
Roofing
Roofers usually want a flexible, slip-rated boot, and a puncture plate where nails sit underfoot. A toe cap is a site-rule question.
Plumbing & HVAC
Kneeling and crawlspaces favor a flexible forefoot and a toe box that does not pinch; wet work favors a waterproof build.
Mechanic & shop floor
Oily floors make the outsole mark the one to read, so check that the listing names the slip test it was rated under.
Winter site crews
Cold and wet together: look for stated insulation and a waterproof build, and size for the thick socks you will actually wear.
Inside the tongue
Decode the tag
Every safety boot carries a printed marking, and it is the record of what the pair is marked for, not the product page. This illustrative legend is a starting point; exact codes and required format depend on the standard edition.
Protective footwear · sample marking
ASTM F2413-18
MIC
MtPREH
Illustrative only. Actual marking format varies by edition; verify your exact pair with its manufacturer.
- ASTM F2413-18
The standard, and its edition
The standard defines performance requirements for protective (safety) toe footwear. The two digits after the dash are the edition year, and listings mix -11, -18 and -24, so read the year on your own pair.
- M / F
Men’s or women’s marking
The marking carries an M or an F for the sizing the pair was rated under. Check that the one printed on your pair matches the pair you meant to buy.
- I
Impact
Impact designation. Exact notation depends on the standard edition; older labels may include a /75 suffix. Verify the applicable marking with the manufacturer.
- C
Compression
Compression designation. Read it with the standard edition and impact designation; do not treat a /75 suffix as universal across editions.
- Mt
Metatarsal guard
Optional protection for the top of the foot behind the toe cap. It appears only on pairs built with a metatarsal guard.
- PR
Puncture resistant
The standard defines a puncture test on the sole. PR means the pair is marked as passing it.
- EH
Electrical hazard
The standard defines an electrical test on the sole and heel; makers describe 18,000 volts with leakage of 1 milliamp or less. EH is secondary protection in dry conditions. A wet or worn sole may not protect.
- Cd / SD
Conductive / static dissipative· also seen
Two different jobs: the standard defines conductive (Cd) and static-dissipative (SD) footwear for controlling static. Neither is EH, and conductive footwear is the wrong choice around live circuits.
- SR / SRO
Slip resistance· also seen
Verify the exact standard, edition and test conditions. F2892-24 includes SR and SRO, while older editions and other cited slip standards can have different scope. No mark guarantees traction on every surface.
- F2892
The soft-toe standard· also seen
F2892 covers specified protective properties of soft-toe footwear. An ordinary boot without a cap is not automatically certified to it, and it supplies no protective toe rating. Verify the edition and exact designations.
Code meanings come from published summaries of the standards; the standard text itself is sold by ASTM, so this is a paraphrase, not a copy. For the legal side of protective footwear in US workplaces, OSHA’s rule is 29 CFR 1910.136 — general information, not legal advice. More on the glossary and the safety-standards guides.
What the checklist can establish
The picker records a few possible hazards and lists questions to resolve. It cannot inspect a workplace, choose the required protection or establish that a particular boot is suitable. Toe material, waterproofing and an electrical or slip designation each describe different properties. None substitutes for the full workplace assessment; EH is not protection for wet energized work.
The explanations use published standard scopes and maker documentation, with the edition checked for each marking. Read OSHA’s PPE assessment requirements and wet cement guidance for the relevant context. It never says a pair “meets” a standard: it tells you what to read, and the method page explains where our figures come from.
Hazard Match FAQ
Is Hazard Match a safety assessment?
No. It is general education built from published standards and maker specs: it tells you what to read on the tag and what to ask. Your employer’s hazard assessment and site rules decide the protection you need, and a qualified safety professional can tell you more than any web page.
Does it recommend a specific boot?
No, on purpose. The checklist identifies toe-protection, marking and exposure questions that remain to be verified. Unselected hazards are not assumed absent. Once you know what to look for, the comparison and buying-guide pages go model by model, and say “the maker states” wherever a rating comes from a listing.
Steel toe or composite toe: which one is safer?
Cap material alone does not establish protection. Verify the exact model’s impact and compression designations under the stated standard edition; marking formats vary. The choice usually comes down to weight, how the toe feels in the cold, metal-detector rules and toe-box room.
Why does it ask about floors and cold if I only care about the toe?
Because the toe is one line on the tag. Slip, puncture, electrical and weather hazards each point at a different code or feature, and the pair that passes one is not automatically right for the next.
Does anything I tick get stored or sent anywhere?
No. The picker runs in your browser. The address bar updates so you can copy a link to your result, but nothing is sent to a server.