Safety shoes are key to improving market competitiveness

The study found that most of the production and sales of safety shoes are located in Shanghai, Wenzhou and Ruian, Zhejiang, Yangzhou, Jiangsu and Yangzhong, Shandong, Gaomi, Dongguan, Dongguan and other places, these are the safety shoes industrial cluster. According to statistics, China produces 200 million pairs of safety protective shoes each year, accounting for about one-third of the international market demand. The demand in the domestic market was 96 million pairs, of which 45 million pairs of protective toe safety shoes and 1.87 million pairs of anti-puncture shoes.

There is still a considerable gap between China's safety footwear industry and developed countries. Mainly manifested as backward products, monotonous varieties, low technological content, uneven quality, insufficient scientific research input, slow replacement, and undocumented products are still flowing into the market. “non-standard” production and false labeling have occurred from time to time. The overall management level of the industry is relatively extensive and other hidden dangers. How can we improve the market competitiveness of our safety shoes?

The performance of very high safety shoes is the key Throughout the foreign market, safety performance of safety shoes has always been the focus of supervision by foreign regulatory agencies, and safety performance must be top-level. Safety shoes are developed in developed countries and regions such as the European Union, the United States, and Japan. Detailed product safety standards, and constantly adjust regulatory requirements in response to market changes.

The latest safety footwear standard EN ISO 20345:2011, approved by the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) on December 14 last year, came into force. This standard replaces the EN ISO 20345:2004/A1:2007 set of standards, and has new requirements in the hexavalent chromium test methods, non-metallic anti-puncture bottom test methods and thermal insulation performance of the safety shoes. According to the new standard, the content of hexavalent chromium in footwear shall not exceed 3 mg/kg when tested according to ISO 17075 Test Method for Hexavalent Chromium in Leather. From June 1st, 30 European countries such as Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, and Croatia must implement the standard.

In the United States, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration of the Department of Labor (OSHA) has also established federal regulations for labor protection shoes and issued supporting standards. These regulatory contents emphasize the safety requirements of hexavalent chromium, impact resistance, and anti-static. The requirements for hexavalent chromium in leather such as uppers, inner linings and shoe soles are not detectable.

In China, the Ningbo Yinzhou Inspection and Quarantine Bureau found that many batches of raw leather “hexavalent chromium” were exceeding the standard in spot inspection of safety shoes raw materials in the area. This is the first time that the “hexavalent chromium” of safety shoe materials has been found in Quzhou for the past five years. The "hexavalent chromium" problem in safety shoes has gradually entered the eyes of regulators.

Want to sell safety shoes, improve safety shoes performance is the key!