Rigger boots banned?

[troll]

Terribly sorry-an unjustifiable straying from topic there (Peter`s fault) so in order to wander back onto the subject:
Rigger boots........not really a good bit of kit anyway. Not only are they notorious for maintaining Siberian temperatures, they are not waterproof and have a nasty habit of attracting all manner of foreign objects necessitating removal and constant emptying. They rub like a belligerant manitou, smell bloody awful after only a couple of projects and should under no circumstances be worn in the office. Particularly with a skirt or silly flannel trousers. I think, after much reflection, that riggers are favoured by grown-ups in pursuance of an image resembling a Greek dancer. You know, one of them there chappies who wear donkey-riding trousers (whatshisfaces mandolin stylee) and wave hankies.
They just don`t provide ankle support and get pulled off in sludge anyway. All in all, naff kit.

[juliewren]

I still don't see why riggers are a no-no but wellys are ok. They don't offer ankle support either. I wear wellys as my main sort of footwear except in the summer (or even in the summer if it's one of those crappy, rainy ones), and have done for over 15 years without a sprained/strained ankle. HSE regs are written by people who don't work on site.

[lucy78green]

I love my fleece lined riggers, they keep my feet warm and dry and give me better support than steel toe-capped wellies (which is what most firms give out on wet sites).
I have sprained my ankle twice on site. Once I fell in a ditch (don't think the type of boot would have made a difference, my ankle whacked off a rock on the way down). Another time I got my foot stuck in the piles of construction debris that the developer left lying around our trench (I suspect they were being obstructive). I would wear lace-ups in summer if I still had a serviceable pair.
My major complaint about safety footwear in general is lack of arch support in them - after a summer of wearing safety wellies I had really painful feet and was told by a podiatrist that I had to wear arch supports and that any footwear that is completely flat on the inside is bad for my feet.