Everybody knows the stinging pain when you bump your little toe on the edge of the bed. However, at many workplaces, far greater dangers lurk than corners and edges. The feet must be protected from falling objects or heavy machines. Safety shoes with a protective toe cap are mandatory.

To ensure that HAIX safety shoes protect toes from bruises and worse, they are put through their paces. Every part used in HAIX shoes must pass strict quality tests. These are carried out in HAIX’s own test and inspection laboratory – one of the most modern in the world. Hardly any other shoe manufacturer is equipped with such a high-tech facility.

Strict testing in the HAIX lab

Under the test engineer’s strict, a 20-kilo weight rushes down on the protective cap from a height of one meter. Apart from a loud bang, nothing happens – the cap holds. To test the pressure resistance, it is then compressed under the enormous load of 1.5 tons – the weight of a fully loaded euro pallet. In order to pass the tests, the protective cap must retain a certain residual height in the interior. For shoe size 42 this is 14 millimeters. The HAIX shoe passes the test with flying colors – the toes of future wearers are protected.

In addition to the test benches for toe protection caps, there are many other high-tech devices in the HAIX test laboratory where shoes are subjected to stress and put under the microscope. Textiles are pulled and tugged in special devices, they are flamed and must wade through water for hours. The shoes have to withstand a bath in red-hot sand and bitter cold. And the soles must prove their bending strength, durability and performance in endurance tests.

Beyond the minimum standard

Why all this effort? HAIX shoes are worn by heroes and are used in extreme situations, which is why they must ensure maximum safety and comfort. Therefore, at HAIX all shoes and materials are tested beyond the mandatory standards. The European standard EN ISO 20345 defines basic requirements a safety shoe must meet. But those minimum standards do not meet the requirements of HAIX. Every shoe model should exceed the basic requirements as far as possible.

In addition to laboratory tests, continuous quality assurance checks before, during and after production ensure a consistently high level of quality. By means of incoming goods inspections, raw materials that do not meet the high HAIX standards are immediately rejected. Because HAIX focuses on highest material quality – in processing and in handling of the product. That is why the company produces 100% “Made in Europe”, using the latest machinery, qualified specialists and continuous process optimization – for more safety, more comfort and higher quality.