As a part of our goal to protect employees from foot injuries while working on new construction job sites, safety work boots/shoes must be worn. The following steps are to be taken to assure compliance with OSHA regulations.

The Department will reimburse employees who are required to perform work at new construction job sites up to $100 once every three years based on the condition of the shoes*. If an employee has a documented medical condition that requires more expensive shoes, reimbursement of up to $150 will be allowed once every three years.

The employee is responsible for purchasing safety shoes that are sturdy (have hard soles) and have an impact resistance toe. Only shoes that have hard soles AND are marked by the ASTM F2413-05, or F2413-11, or most current OSHA standard specified in 1910.136 shall be approved for purchase (shoes that are marked with the ASTM F2413-05, or F2413-11, or most current standard specified in OSHA 1910. 136 standards approval typically reflect the approval inside the right shoe or on a label attached to the shoe). Employees will be required to submit a State of Maryland Expense Account form with a receipt attached in order to be reimbursed for the actual costs incurred up to the $100 (or $150 with a medically documented condition) maximum limit.

Supervisors of Assessments (or their designee) will be responsible for insuring that employees wear shoes that meet OSHA requirements on new construction job sites. Before approving the State of Maryland Expense Account form, the Supervisor of Assessments (or their designee) must assure that the criteria for protective footwear have been met - that the employee has shoes that have hard soles and have the ASTM F21413-05, or F24313-11, or most current standard specified in OSHA 1910.136 standards approval.

Supervisors of Assessments (or their designee) must maintain records of the dates the shoes were approved and the amounts that employees were reimbursed (Attachment A).

If an employee's shoes wear out prior to the established renewal date, the employee will be responsible for providing the protective footwear for the remaining period of time. Failure to abide by the safety rules to wear protective footwear will result in disciplinary action being taken.

* The determination to replace the shoes will be made by the Supervisor of Assessments (or their designee) after inspection of the shoes.

Attachment: 1 ​