Design of innovative protective insoles for satefy footwear

The use of adequate protective footwear and other types of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) has become a necessity in view of the number of accidents at work occurred in the past years. The European Community (EU) and the member states are creating strategies aiming the increase of the use of PPE's and consequently the decrease of the number of the accidents at work and consequently the number of injuries caused by them and their severity. Currently, there are three types of protective shoe: safety shoes, protection shoes and occupational shoes. The use and specifications of this type of PPE respect the European and ISO standards. In this paper, a brief review of safety footwear and its components will be presented focusing on penetration resistant inserts. In addition, we present a project in development at University of Minho that aims to improve the existent shoes in terms of comfort using new and innovative materials.