ARE STANDARD TESTS OF COLD PROTECTION BY FOOTWEAR RELEVANT AND VALID

The present international standards for safety, protective and occupational footwear EN ISO 20344 – 20347 classify footwear as cold protective by a pass/fail test where the limits are set for an allowed 10 °C temperature drop inside the footwear at a sole location during 30 minutes at a temperature gradient of about 40 °C. In a test of five footwear including a summer sandal it was shown that all could pass the test, since performance is basically determined by the sole insulation only. The standard does not discriminate between good and poor cold protective footwear and should be replaced by a more relevant and valid test, for example with a heated foot model.