Construction work isn’t just one job. It’s many different jobs, each with its own workload, work environment, and jobsite safety requirements. It’s important to match your work footwear to the type of work you do – from heavy-duty boots to lightweight sneakers.
What kind of work footwear is best for the type of construction you do? That all depends on the job. If you build foundations, do heavy landscaping, or assemble I-beams into buildings, your boots need to be super durable, waterproof, and all-around protective. But if you’re doing lighter finishing work, like drywall, painting, or trim carpentry, lightweight comfort and flexibility are likely more important.
At KEEN Utility, we make men’s and women’s work boots for construction professionals across every trade. Each pair is built for comfort, safety, and on-the-job performance, but there’s lots of variation between the different models. Here’s some help finding the right pair of work boots for your construction job:
What’s your work environment?
Are you indoors, outdoors, or both? Some KEEN Utility construction work boots are waterproof, making them a great option for outdoor wear. However, indoor construction roles might not need this level of protection.
Do you work year-round or seasonally?
In some parts of the country, the winter months bring road construction, concrete work, and homebuilding to a standstill while indoor work continues. In more temperate climates, workers might operate year-round. When (and where) you work will influence the type of KEEN Utility footwear you choose.
What’s the workload? What materials or tools do you use?
Light-duty work is wildly different from heavy-duty work. The same is true of light-duty vs. heavy-duty footwear. Additionally, the materials you handle and the tools or equipment you use can influence what you wear on your feet.
Does your jobsite require footwear with extra protection?
Impact-rated safety toes (steel, aluminum, composite, or carbon) are required on some jobsites, but might be overkill on others. KEEN Utility offers many more choices for protection, too. Depending on your job, you might need metatarsal guards, Electrical Hazard (EH) or ElectroStatic Dissipative (ESD) ratings, or puncture-resistant outsoles.
Now that you’ve established your work needs, selecting an ideal pair of work footwear becomes far more straightforward. The next step: identifying duty type. Heavy-duty construction tasks usually require heavy-duty boots, and light-duty tasks are likely best served by light-duty footwear. General-duty boots cover a wide range of tasks in between.
Heavy-duty tasks typically involve intense physical labor and exposure to harsh conditions. Construction jobs like hardscaping, roadwork, excavation, concrete work, utilities, ironwork, pipe fitting, and welding are good examples. All work boots used for these types of jobs must be highly durable and protective.
In the KEEN Utility lineup, the Cincinnati is the gold standard for heavy-duty work. It’s got an extra-thick Barnyard Resistant leather upper and is available in 6" or 8" heights. Lightweight safety options protect without weighing you down, and wedge or 90° sole options give you secure footing on any surface.
Need something even heavier-duty than heavy-duty? Maybe even “extreme duty?” That’s the Camden. It shares many of the same features as the Cincinnati, but adds additional armoring to the toe and heel for even more abrasion protection. And if you need to walk over sharp objects at work all the time, a boot with built-in puncture resistance like the CSA Camden or CSA Abitibi II would be a good choice.
Jobs such as roofing, framing, electrical, plumbing, siding installation, landscaping, fencing, HVAC, and sheet metal installation are good examples of what we’d call “general construction.” These tasks typically involve moderate physical labor and exposure to common jobsite hazards. So, work boots for general-duty construction need to balance comfort, durability, and wearability.
The Liberty, Targhee IV Work, Evanston, and Pittsburgh Energy are all good examples of our general-duty work boots. They’re similar to heavy-duty boots in that they’ve got things like durable leather uppers and protective carbon toes. But we’ve worked hard to streamline the designs and use lighter-weight materials where possible. These styles offer a good balance of durability and easy-wearing comfort, making them ready for a majority of construction tasks.
Is your workflow a bit tamer? Maybe you operate on smoother, flatter surfaces in a place where the risk of foot injury from impact or compression is low or even nonexistent? Then you might be working a light-duty construction job. Finish carpentry, material delivery, drywalling, painting, surveying, flooring, or carpet installation are all great examples. These are still active workdays, for sure, but the need for lightweight comfort tends to outweigh the need for super-burly protection.
Options like the Gibson, Speedworks, San Jose, and Skokie are good examples of light-duty work boots, shoes, and sneakers for construction. These styles might resemble the footwear you wear outside of work, but we’ve included some of our lightest safety features like KEEN.DRY waterproofing and carbon or aluminum toes to add protection where it counts.
Choosing the right work boots for construction comes down to matching your gear to your workload. Whether you’re pouring concrete, framing houses, or finishing interiors, KEEN Utility builds footwear that helps you stay comfortable, protected, and productive from clock-in to clock-out.
