New EU Standard: Safety Shoes Transform from “Protection” to “Humanization”

The EN ISO 20345:2025 standard released by the European Union can be regarded as a “milestone” change in the safety shoe industry.

The new standard not only strengthens the anti-slip performance (introducing SRC++ certification, requiring the friction coefficient of the sole on wet tiles and oily steel plates to be ≥0.4).but also for the first time includes “comfort” as a mandatory indicator.

Such as stipulating that the temperature inside the shoe is ≤28°C, the humidity is ≤60%, and ergonomic tests are required. In addition, the requirement to use more than 30% recyclable or bio-based materials forces companies to accelerate green transformation.

For example, an Italian brand has adopted corn fiber insoles and recycled rubber soles, which reduces costs by 15% while meeting the new standards.

However, the new standard also brings challenges to small and medium-sized manufacturers, which is expected to eliminate 10%-15% of backward production capacity.