EN ISO 20345:2022 PDF

Overview

EN ISO 20345:2022 (Personal protective equipment - Safety footwear, identical to ISO 20345:2021) is the CEN-adopted European standard that defines basic and additional requirements for general-purpose safety footwear. Approved December 2021 and published as EN ISO 20345:2022, it supersedes EN ISO 20345:2011 and provides a harmonized basis for testing, marking and specifying protective shoes and boots used to reduce mechanical, thermal and ergonomic risks. The standard supports conformity to EU PPE Regulation (EU) 2016/425 (see Annex ZA) and is intended for manufacturers, testing bodies, specifiers and safety professionals.

Key Topics and Requirements

EN ISO 20345:2022 addresses the full lifecycle and construction of safety footwear. Major technical topics include:

• Classification and design - footwear types, heights and constructional design features for protective performance.
• Whole-footwear requirements - constructional performance, toe protection, leak‑proofness, ergonomic features and slip resistance.
• Materials and components - requirements and tests for uppers, linings, tongues, insoles/insocks/footbeds and outsoles (tear, abrasion, flexing, hydrolysis resistance, interlayer bond strength).
• Additional optional protections - perforation resistance, electrical properties and other job‑related features.
• Innocuousness and seam strength - ensuring materials and seams do not introduce hazards or rapid failures.
• Customized footwear - requirements for footwear equipped with customized insocks, customized safety footwear or individually manufactured customized safety footwear.
• Exclusions: high visibility properties are not covered due to interaction with garments and working conditions.

Practical Applications and Who Uses It

EN ISO 20345:2022 is used by:

• Manufacturers and product designers to design compliant safety shoes and document performance claims.
• Test laboratories and certification bodies to perform standardized tests and verify conformity.
• Procurement and safety managers in sectors that require general-purpose protective footwear (construction, manufacturing, warehousing, maintenance, utilities) to specify appropriate protective classes and features.
• Regulators and conformity assessors to reference a harmonized standard when assessing PPE under Regulation (EU) 2016/425.

Practical benefits include a clear benchmark for toe protection, slip-resistant outsoles, durability, and options for multi-risk or job‑specific enhancements.

Related Standards

Complementary job-related standards cover special risks and should be used where applicable:

• Firefighter footwear standards
• Electrical insulating footwear
• Chainsaw-resistant footwear
• Chemical and molten metal splash protection
• Motorcycle rider protection

Keywords: EN ISO 20345:2022, ISO 20345, safety footwear standard, PPE, safety shoes, slip resistance, toe protection, perforation resistance.