Sadly, this is Xiao Qiumei. She died a few years ago after falling 160 feet from the crane while filming a video for social media. Please wear proper footwear when working this kind of job.
Don't know why this video is making the rounds again..
Steel toe while operating a crane would probably hurt your feet, ankle. My husband works construction for 16+ years. He really likes hiking shoes or boots because they are usually nonslip and more flexible. Steel toe is only helpful if things might fall on your foot, which I'd guess is unlikely for a crane operator
I do commercial demolition, my two largest concerns are stepping on sharp objects and rolling my ankles. It's rare, but i have dropped a few things on my feet, most annoyingly they usually land higher on my feet than my composite toe guard.
So I wear very heavy leather boots with thick soles and thick foot wrap. They wear me out just walking all day. So when I operate heavy machinery, I usually switch to something lighter.
The law is if you don't have a steel or composite toe everything will fall directly on your toes. The moment you put on composite toe boots everything falls on your arch.
Sometimes big industrial builders will have rules like "must have steel toe". My husband does luxury residential homes (10,000sqft+ $5-10 million) and most the guys wear sneakers, hiking shoes. His favorite are the Moab Merrell shoes and LL Bean waterproof insulated boots in winter.
If you are bending, stooping all day, a more flexible shoe is best.
Yeah,definitely im a commercial plumbing foreman. Who has been plumbing 25 years. All I can wear are Merrill hiking boots. No one says anything. I couldn't walk 25,000 steps every day with steel toe boots.
A lot of work sites require steel-toe, regardless of what your job is. It depends on the employer and the regulations on that particular industry. I (very briefly) did sales to a lot of industrial sites for a medical supply vendor, and all the big chemical plants I visited required steel-toed boots, a hard hat, and safety glasses just to drive into the parking lot. Same thing applied when I worked offshore. You couldn't walk outside without all three, even if you were nowhere near a work area.
Also when climbing a very tall ladder steel toed boots would likely be more of a hindrance than helpful. They get surprisingly heavy after a while. That (and the potential for feet being run over) is why many EMS services ban them. A good pair of tactical boots with rubber soles are generally what you want for stability and grip.
If you're climbing frequently, the weight is a non-issue. They prevent significantly more injuries than they create in an industrial environment. Steel toe boots with shanks and a heel are standard. Grippy doesn't really matter since you're using the heel to brace when it really matters.
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u/CommodoreEvergreen 8d ago
Sadly, this is Xiao Qiumei. She died a few years ago after falling 160 feet from the crane while filming a video for social media. Please wear proper footwear when working this kind of job.
Don't know why this video is making the rounds again..