As I read an article about footwear, I really thought how easy it is for safety minded professionals to protect our employees from tragic accidents by just doing the simplest things. For example; making sure procedures are put in place to ensure everyone is wearing the appropriate safety footwear in the workplace.
There are a few easy steps you can take to ensure all your employees are protected:

• Reexamine the hazards in your workplace on a regular basis to make sure there are no new safety issues to address, such as worn walking areas, tripping hazards or any new equipment that employees may need to be trained on in order to avoid any injuries when using. Foot injuries can be caused by not properly using lift aids and material handling equipment.
• Evaluate employees on a daily basis to insure proper footwear usage, watch for untied shoes, inadequate foot protection or visitors/office staff visiting the shop area that are not wearing safety footwear at all.
• Resources should be available to all employees as to where to buy the proper foot protection and what kind of protection is acceptable at your establishment. There are companies that will come to your facility with all the information needed and there are also plenty of online sources to help integrate foot wear protection into your company.
• Review past injuries and review safety policies, if there is a safety policy in place make sure it is followed or if there is a need for one make sure it is created and put into place. Ensure all employees (seasonal and permanent) understand it and sign it.
• Go beyond just the shoes; make sure all employees are properly trained on all devices in the facility including lifting equipment and machinery. The potential for serious injury can occur on any shift and with every task performed; these can be lessened with the proper training.
• Everyone should do their part in safety, it is everyone’s job to ensure safety in the workplace. Too many times the job is put solely on the Safety Department, this means supervisors, line leaders, shift supervisors, etc. are responsible for putting all safety procedures into place and making sure they are followed.

I believe that diffusing potentially hazardous situations is everyone’s job and with all of us in the company working together we can all make the workplace a safer environment.

Johnson-Sherrard, Linda. “A Fresh Approach to Foot Protection” Editorial. Occupational Hazards April 2009.

Filed under: Safety Tips, Workplace Safety by Beth Faraci Social tagging: foot protection > safety footwear > workplace hazards