Surface, Awareness, FOOTWEAR, Environment

“Never underestimate the power of a shoe.” Giuseppe Zanotti, Italian Fashion Designer

Shoes are your connection to the surface you work on and wearing the right ones can help prevent a slip and fall. Consider shoes for their kind and condition - or what they are designed to do and how well have they been maintained. A brand-new shoe that is not designed for the environment or surface can be as hazardous as one that is worn out or damaged.

Kind

The shoe should have a sole that is designed for the surfaces you will be walking on and provide support for your foot and ankle. There are also protective properties that can be considered such as steel toes or puncture protection, but these features are not discussed here.

Soles

The sole is in contact with the walking surface. Consistent traction, or slip resistance, can be achieved if the sole material used and tread design create a high enough coefficient of friction with the surface.

Material

Flat leather or hard plastic-soled shoes offer low slip resistance and would be poor choices in snow, ice or hard, wet surfaces like tile or concrete.
Softer rubber, malleable plastic and natural fibers can have slip-resistant properties which are important on floors found in kitchens, maintenance shops or industrial areas that may be contaminated with oils, greases or liquids.

Design

Soles with a deep wide tread pattern can improve traction by letting loose material such as gravel or snow push into the area between the tread and provide contact with the more stable surface below.

Some soles have a closely positioned pattern with deep groves. This can push liquids up into the spaces and allow the treads to have contact with the surface below.

Condition

Shoes with worn soles clearly will not perform as the manufacturer designed them. It’s important to periodically inspect shoe tread and replace shoes when significant wear is noted.

Worn or deteriorated uppers provide little to no support for the ankle. Ankle support can prevent a fall when someone starts to lose their balance.

Here are some tips for shoe selection:

• Evaluate the surface you are going to walk on and purchase shoes that are compatible.
  • Check for industry or environmental recommendations made by the shoe manufacturers and suppliers.
• Choose a shoe that matches the environment you will be working in the most often.
• If working outdoors in ice or snow consider using a traction enhancing device.
• Changing shoes from indoors to outdoors takes only a few minutes and the safety improvement could be significant.

The MEMIC Safety Net blog is now hosted on the redesigned memic.com to make it easier to access whatever information you need on whatever device you are using - smartphone, tablet, laptop or desktop. Click here for more tips on selecting the right shoe for your workplace and look for more information on Slip and Fall Prevention as we wrap up S.A.F.E. in the next Safety Net post when we take on the Environment.