What Does EH Rated Mean on Work Boots?

The test behind the two letters

EH is an optional designation inside ASTM F2413, the consensus standard OSHA accepts for protective footwear under 29 CFR 1910.136. The test is specific and published: the sole and heel assembly is subjected to 18,000 volts at 60 Hz for one minute, in dry conditions, and must not allow leakage current above 1.0 milliamp. Carolina states that test condition in full on its own product pages, which is a useful habit to look for in a maker.

Two words in that sentence do most of the work. Dry — the certification says nothing about a wet outsole. And secondary — ASTM's own framing is that EH footwear is a backup to the primary safeguards, which are isolation, lockout and de-energising the circuit.

What EH does not do

How to read the marking line

ASTM F2413 compliant footwear carries a marking inside the boot, and the codes are stacked in a fixed order: the standard and year, then the gender code, then I for impact and C for compression — both mandatory at 75 foot-pounds and 2,500 pounds — and then any optional designations. EH is one of those optional codes, alongside Mt for metatarsal, PR for puncture resistance, SD for static dissipative and CD for conductive.

Wolverine publishes the Floorhand as ASTM F2413 M/I/C EH, which is the complete form worth looking for. Where a maker writes only “EH rated” with no designation line, you are taking their word for a test you cannot see. ASTM F2413 explained breaks every code down in order.

Who actually needs EH

Electricians are the obvious case, but the rating matters to a much wider group: HVAC technicians working on live equipment, maintenance crews, plant and factory workers around powered machinery, anyone pulling cable, and most general construction trades working near temporary power. If there is a credible route for current to reach the ground through you, EH is the designation to specify.

Linemen are the exception that proves the rule. Pole and transmission work needs dielectric overshoes and primary protective equipment, not an EH boot — the hazard is a different order of magnitude. Dielectric boots vs EH rated covers where that line falls, and the linemen page covers the rest of the kit.

The metal question

A steel toe cap does not disqualify a boot from an EH rating — plenty of EH-rated boots have steel caps, because the test is about the sole and heel assembly rather than the toe. What matters more in practice is what is underfoot: a steel shank or exposed metal in the outsole is a path, and a nail picked up in a lug is a path the maker never certified.

If you want to remove that variable entirely, buy non-metallic throughout. KEEN's carbon-fiber Detroit XT publishes ASTM F2412-17 and F2413-17 M I/75 C/75 with EH and saves about 15% of the weight of steel per KEEN's own figure. Red Wing's King Toe 2240 pairs a non-metallic toe with a non-metallic shank. Are steel toe boots an electrical hazard addresses the worry directly.

Keeping the rating meaningful

Three habits preserve what the certification tested. Inspect the outsole weekly for embedded metal — swarf, staples, wire offcuts — and pick out anything you find. Replace the boots when the tread is worn into the midsole, because the thickness of rubber is the protection. And treat wet conditions as a loss of the rating rather than a reduction in it: the test is dry, so a soaked boot is outside the envelope the maker certified.

When you need the rating and the boots, the roundup is best EH-rated work boots, and the electricians page covers the rest of the specification for that trade.