The Unexpected Origins Of Work Safety Shoes

The most important part of trade workwear on nearly any site, be it a construction project, warehouse or manufacturing plant, is the safety shoe.

Typically made from leather and with a toe cap reinforced with either steel or composite materials, a safety shoe is designed to protect the foot from potential injuries from sharp or heavy objects and they are typically required on many sites with potential dangers.

The origins of safety shoes are somewhat complex, but one of the earliest progenitors of the concept was a type of shoe that was so associated with manual labour that it is part of one of the Industrial Revolution’s most enduring myths.

Clogs Of War

Given that even the earliest shoes were designed to protect, it is important to be specific when discussing the origins of safety footwear so as not to confuse safety shoes related to working with riding boots or military equipment.

One of the earliest forms of protective footwear is the sabot, a type of wooden clog which provided a worker’s foot with greater protection. Clogs are still recognised as a safety shoe today in some PPE guidelines.

There were two main types of sabot, with the original wooden clog made from a hollowed-out piece of wood eventually giving way to heavy leather shoes with protective wooden soles, which whilst less effective as PPE were easier to walk around in.

From the 1500s until, somewhat ironically, the rise of mass-produced production methods in the 1800s, sabots were a particularly common piece of footwear, typically seen as a working-class shoe in comparison to the sabaton, a term for an armoured boot that also became associated with high-heeled shoes.

During a time of widespread workers’ revolts in France against a mechanised takeover of several industries, a rumour emerged that a common tactic used by striking workers was to throw their sabots into the machinery so they would be jammed in the machinery.

This supposed tactic, known as sabotage, is not literally true, but there are some elements of truth to the new word’s origins.

In French, the term sabotage comes from the French term “saboter”, which literally translates to “walk noisily” due to the loud wooden soles but is typically used in French to mean “bungle”, typically on purpose.

Whilst it would later be used in its more malicious context in the First World War, during industrial action in the late 19th and early 20th century, sabotage was a range of alternatives to striking during a time when it was cheaper to replace someone than to provide a safe working environment.

It is methods such as working to rule, deliberately doing a job badly and slowly, with the idea that whilst workers have not failed to do their job, they can put pressure on employers by annoying customers and causing losses that way.

A 1907 report described sabotage as giving to bosses what they give to workers or working as fast as wages would dictate.

Despite these divergent stories, what is clear is that even the earliest safety shoes have had a tremendous effect on language.