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How to check men's S1 safety shoes

Updated: 21 October 2026

You have a listing open, or a pair on the kitchen floor, and you need to know whether these are men's S1 safety shoes before Monday's shift. The title may say steel toe, non slip, or waterproof. None of the eight captures in the [main comparison](/hub/occupational-safety/men-s-s1-safety-shoes) print a class in the title or the details fields, so a worked example from this set is a missing stamp. What the letters mean, once you can see them, is on the [men's S1 safety shoes buying guide](/hub/occupational-safety/men-s-s1-safety-shoes/sub/men-s-s1-safety-shoes-buying-guide). A qualifying purchase can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you. Peter F. checked the listings and public UK guidance. We did not lab-test the shoes.

You have a listing open, or a pair on the kitchen floor, and you need to know whether these are men's S1 safety shoes before Monday's shift. The title may say steel toe, non slip, or waterproof.

Our top picks

Unbranded Unbranded steel-toe trainer

Best overall

Unbranded Unbranded steel-toe trainer
8.4/10about £25.49
View offer
LUPWEE LUPWEE UK-6799

Best value

LUPWEE LUPWEE UK-6799
7.5/10about £30.99
View offer
SUADEX SUADEX JSUK-1620-677

Alternative

SUADEX SUADEX JSUK-1620-677
6.6/10about £29.99
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Read the mark in the shoe
  2. 2.Match the model to the declaration
  3. 3.Check the toe cap against your foot
  4. 4.Retire the sole before the cleats go smooth

Read the mark in the shoe

Turn the shoe over and find the stamp, usually on the tongue or the inner quarter. You are looking for EN ISO 20345 or BS EN ISO 20345, and the class. For this search the class line is S1. If the same line continues into P, PL, or PS, you have left plain S1. HSE's supply page says most new PPE on the Great Britain market must be UKCA or CE marked, with a declaration and instructions in English. A title with neither, which is every kept listing here, has not passed this step.

Match the model to the declaration

Paper comes second, and it has to name the shoe you are holding. BSIF's 2025 checklist asks you to match the certificate number, the four-digit body number, the model, and the expiry, and to check that the declaration names the same model. LUPWEE prints UK-6799, SUADEX prints JSUK-1620-677, Baofular prints K8, and City Knights prints SS500CM. The unbranded trainer, the LARNMERN waterproof title, COOU, and AFJYG have no model in the file, so there is nothing on the page for a declaration to match. One SUADEX review says the cap is plastic and that a certificate did not resolve the doubt. One AFJYG review says there is no certification. Those are buyer claims, not a four-digit body number.
Unbranded Unbranded steel-toe trainer

Testsieger

Unbranded Unbranded steel-toe trainer
8.4/10about £25.49
View offer

Check the toe cap against your foot

Paper can be in order and the cap can still strike your toes. Reviews here describe chafing on the Baofular, a cap felt on a broad foot in the LUPWEE, a cap that looks too small on the COOU, and metal that one AFJYG review says came out after three days. A size 9 is called true to size on the unbranded trainer and too big on the SUADEX. Walk on a hard floor in the socks you will wear at work, with the closure fastened as you will wear it. If the cap touches at the end of that walk, do not rely on the pair. A steel or composite cap does not stretch into comfort later in the week.

Retire the sole before the cleats go smooth

HSE's slip guidance says to replace footwear before the cleats wear smooth, because slip resistance changes as the tread goes. A delivery driver says the unbranded sole wore down in about six months and then lost grip, including when wet. LARNMERN reviews put a worn-through or split sole at six days, about two weeks, or three months. If the stamp has no P, PL, or PS, and the floor can hide a nail, move to the S1 or S1P safety shoes page before you call the pair suitable.

Common questions

Where is the S1 mark supposed to be?
Look on the tongue or the inner quarter for a stamp that shows EN ISO 20345 or BS EN ISO 20345 and the class S1. The conformity mark, UKCA or CE, sits with that information on a proper label. Honeywell's leaflet shows one layout, including a UKCA example that names SATRA AB0321. That example is not evidence for any of the eight listings in this comparison, whose titles do not print the class.
What line should the stamp show besides S1?
The stamp should show the standard as well as the class. Extra letters change the shoe: P, PL, or PS add a midsole, and SR is the extra glycerol slip test from the 2022 edition. Older shoes may still show SRA, SRB, or SRC. A non-slip word in a title, as on SUADEX and the unbranded trainer, is not those letters. If the extra letters are absent, those extra protections are absent from the marking.
Is UKCA required, or is CE still allowed?
HSE expects workplace PPE in Great Britain to be UKCA or CE marked, with a declaration and instructions in English. GOV.UK allows either mark for PPE, so a CE mark on its own is still permitted. The eight captures here show neither. Seeing one of the marks on the shoe is the start of the check. The declaration still has to name the same model.
What if the listing has no class and the seller sends a PDF?
Read the PDF against the shoe. BSIF's checklist asks for a certificate number, a four-digit body, a model match, and an expiry, plus a declaration that names the same model. A general safety-footwear file is not a match. LUPWEE, SUADEX, Baofular, and City Knights at least print a model you can compare. Four listings in this set print no model at all, so a PDF has nothing on the page to meet.
What do you do if the model on the shoe is not on the certificate?
Stop. BSIF says the certificate and the declaration should name the model you are holding, with a body number and an expiry that still stands. A COOU review that says the model is missing from a stamp, and an AFJYG review that says there is no certification, are buyer reports rather than a test we repeated. They are still a reason to refuse the pair until the paperwork and the shoe agree. A star rating does not repair a mismatched model.

Related pages

Best men's S1 safety shoes

Men's S1 safety shoes for warehouse work

Men's S1 safety shoes

Men's S1 safety shoes buying guide, check the class

Men's S1 or S1P safety shoes, the midsole decision

Sources

Public UK sources from the research digest, last checked on 20 October 2026. Shelf prices and star lines are the amazon.co.uk figures captured with these eight listings. The price band is this set, not a market average.

  1. HSE: construction PPE FAQ (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  2. PPE at Work Regulations 1992 (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  3. HSE: using the right type of PPE (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  4. HSE: slip-resistant footwear (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  5. HSE: PPE supply (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  6. GOV.UK: product marking, UKCA and CE (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  7. BSI: BS EN ISO 20345:2022+A1:2024 (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  8. HAIX UK: safety footwear classes (retrieved 20 October 2026)