When there is occupational exposure to blood or other potentially infectious materials (OPIM), the OSHA bloodborne pathogens standard, 29 CFR 1910.1030, requires the employer to provide, at no cost to the employee, APPROPRIATE personal protective equipment such as, but not limited to, gloves, gowns, eye protection, shoe covers, laboratory coats, or other equipment deemed necessary. Therefore, in circumstances where it is reasonable to anticipate that blood will contact the feet, employers must provide employees with protective gear to cover shoes which will be worn outside. (The bloodborne pathogens standard does not consider shoes worn outside the facility as personal protective equipment, regardless of whether the shoes cover the toes or not.) Personal protective equipment will be considered "appropriate" only if it does not permit blood or other potentially infectious materials to pass through to or reach the employee's work clothes, street clothes, undergarments, skin, eyes, mouth, or other mucous membranes under normal conditions of use and for the duration of time which the protective equipment will be used. Socks are not considered a protective barrier for preventing soak-through of blood or other potentially infectious materials (OPIM).

It is the employer's responsibility to ascertain whether or not there is reasonable likelihood of exposure to blood or OPIM at their workplace. Nonetheless, the determination of appropriate footwear in the absence of this (exposure to blood or OPIM) or any other recognized hazard would be up to the employer. OSHA does not forbid employers from setting protocol for prescribed work attire.