What Are Slip-Resistant Overshoes?

The right footwear is essential to preventing slip-and-fall injuries in the workplace. According to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), nearly one in five nonfatal workplace injuries involve slips, trips and falls. With the right footwear, you can get better traction with the ground while subsequently lowering your risk of slip-and-fall injuries. Rather than buying a new pair of shoes, though, you may want to consider slip-resistant overshoes.

The Basics of Slip-Resistant Overshoes

Slip-resistant overshoes are wearable shoe-like accessories that offer a slip-resistant outsole. They look like shoes. As their name suggests, however, slip-resistant overshoes are worn "over" an existing pair of shoes. You don't have to take off your shoes to wear them. You can slide the slip-resistant overshoes over your shoes to take advantage of their slip-resistant properties.

Reasons to Wear Slip-Resistant Overshoes

If your workplace suffers from slip-and-fall hazards like slippery floors or frequently spilled liquids, you may want to wear slip-resistant overshoes. They will protect you from slip-and-fall injuries by creating stronger traction with the floor or ground.

Slip-resistant overshoes feature a deep tread pattern on the outsole. Even if your existing shoes have a shallow tread pattern, you can create stronger traction by wearing slip-resistant overshoes. They will fit over your existing shoes. And thanks to their deep tread pattern, slip-resistant overshoes will increase your traction with the floor or ground, thus lowering your risk of slip-and-fall injuries.

What to Look for in Slip-Resistant Overshoes

While they all share some similarities -- including a deep tread pattern on the outsole -- there are different types of slip-resistant overshoes. Some of them are only designed for dry environments. Other slip-resistant overshoes can be used in wet or dry environments.

You can find slip-resistant overshoes that are resistant to oil. They won't damage when exposed, nor will they slip. With oil resistance, they can withstand oil spills.

Don't forget to choose slip-resistant overshoes in the right size. You can find them in a variety of sizes. With that said, some slip-resistant overshoes feature a stretch fit that accommodates a range of shoe sizes. Rather than choosing a single, static size, you can opt for stretch slip-resistant overshoes in a range of sizes.

You may want to choose machine-washable slip-resistant overshoes. Since you've be wearing them in the workplace, they'll inevitably get dirty. Machine-washable slip-resistant overshoes, though, are easy to clean. You can toss them in the washing machine, or you can clean them by hand.