Empowering women with a perfect fit
February 28, 2023
By Lehigh CustomFit for the Blue Print
By Lehigh CustomFit for the Blue Print
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Feet are the foundation of the body. Making sure required safety footwear fits women properly is essential to positive physical health, enabling optimum job performance, and acknowledging the valuable contribution that women make in the workforce.
Women currently make up nearly 30% of the manufacturing workforce and nearly 11% of the construction workforce. Traditionally, women’s options of work boots were to wear a men’s boot two sizes smaller. That’s not a good fit. Studies have shown that female feet are not simply scaled-down versions of male feet but that they differ in shape – particularly at the arch, the lateral side of the foot, the first toe, and the ball of the foot. Men’s shoes are usually wider for the same length, and women’s shoes have more wiggle room in the forefoot and toe area but are narrower in the heel. Because female bodies tend to have wider hips than males, the angle at which the foot strikes the ground is different. This means different support in the arch area is needed. Fortunately, many safety footwear manufacturers and brands are acknowledging the rising contribution of women in the manual labor force by designing footwear on a women’s last (the form used to define the shape of the shoe). However, all brands do not use the same last, which means every brand can fit different. The power of the perfect fitFor Cinderella, the proper-fitting shoe resulted in finding her prince. For workers, the correctly fitting work shoe results in no pain, more energy and productivity, and less recovery after a long shift.
The greatest selection of women’s work shoes is found online as retail stores don’t typically carry a huge stock of women’s styles and sizes. But finding the right fit can be difficult if you can’t try a shoe on. Fastenal, through its partnership with the leading online supplier of safety footwear, Lehigh CustomFit, offers the solution of Aetrex 3D foot scan technology to provide a better fit – it’s even better than actually trying it on in a store. With up to 20 points of individual foot data, Lehigh can recommend the perfect fitting work shoe for any foot. Factors to consider:
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