ISO 20345 vs ASTM F2413: Differences Between Safety Footwear Standards

Modern occupational safety requirements have become really important due to inaccurate safety footwear certification results, leading to product rejection, workplace injury liabilities, and compliance audit failures.

Products such as industrial safety boots, construction footwear, hospital non-slip shoes, and electrical hazard work shoes demand precise protective performance test data from the buyers.

The 2 main internationally accepted standards for determining the safety performance of footwear are ASTM F2413 and ISO 20345. Although both of these standards aim to define minimum protection requirements for safety footwear, some differences can lead to variations in certification outcomes, mainly due to differences in test loads, marking rules, and additional hazard classifications.

So for exporters and QA managers, it is very important to select the best and correct safety footwear standard to get results that are in line with other laboratories and that meet buyers’ regional requirements.

The highly accurate safety footwear testing is critical in heavy industry because it determines how effectively the footwear withstands falling objects, compression loads, and puncture hazards.

Proper impact resistance prevents foot injuries, reduces accident rates, and also improves wearer safety. Standard construction safety boots normally target a 200 J impact rating to meet general site requirements.

GESTER’s Safety footwear testing machines allow laboratories to be repeatable and reduce manual errors.

The advanced testing helps manufacturers strike the right balance between protection level, durability, and wear comfort, which is really essential for export-quality safety footwear.

The test for the measurement of safety footwear performance is covered by two main standards, ASTM F2413 Standard Specification for Protective Toe Cap Footwear and ISO 20345 Personal Protective Equipment — Safety Footwear.

Test results are greatly affected by the differences in test parameters and certification requirements. Modern safety footwear testing equipment can easily measure the performance of safety footwear. You can program it to comply with international standards for testing this property. This is especially important for global manufacturers.

The Overview of ASTM F2413

ASTM F2413 is widely used as a standard by American workplace safety regulators, industrial footwear buyers, and PPE distributors. It is commonly applied to work boots, industrial shoes, and construction footwear.

The Standard Performance Requirements

The standard ASTM safety footwear test is conducted at a minimum impact energy of 102 J (75 ft-lbf) and compression load of 11.1 kN (2500 lbf) for the basic safety toe rating. Results are verified by measuring internal toe cap deformation after testing.

The Common Industrial Applications

The ASTM F2413 test method is used throughout the North American footwear industry to certify work boots, industrial shoes, and construction footwear.

The Overview of ISO 20345

ISO 20345 is widely used as a standard in Europe and the international PPE supply chains, particularly for industrial and technical safety footwear testing.

The Flexible Classification System

ISO 20345 provides us with multiple protection classes, with 200 J impact and 15 kN compression being the basic safety toe requirement. This also gives better flexibility for different workplace hazard levels and specialized footwear designs.

The Technical Footwear Application

Heavy industrial boots, chemical-resistant footwear, and electrical safety shoes use ISO 20345 extensively because of its adaptable testing conditions and detailed additional hazard classifications.

Safety Footwear Impact Tester GT-KB17

Safety Shoes Impact Tester is used for impact resistance of safety shoes. Impact steel head of safety shoes by 100J or 200J kinetic energy, and inspect it subsidence to check it quality.

Penetration-Resistant Inserts Flexing Tester for safety shoes GT-KB11

Penetration-Resistant Inserts Flexing Tester is used to determine the flex resistance of penetration-resistant inserts for safety shoes.

Safety Footwear Compression and Puncture Tester GT-KB12A

Compression and Puncture Tester measures the compression strength for safety shoes toecap and puncture-resistant performance for sole steel plate.

For the export-oriented footwear manufacturers, the proper specimen conditioning, stable load control and also accurate sample alignment are really critical for repeatable safety footwear testing results for work boots, industrial shoes, and specialized protective footwear.

Our Safety Footwear Testing Equipment has been improved. The system is more accurate and efficient. 

For more information on safety footwear testing methods, standards, and textile testing machines, contact us:

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