Posted By Sean Fraser This sounds a bind. Immediate response would be to review the relevant Risk Assessments which I would expect to state or presume use of safety footwear as an integral part of site PPE, especially in construction. If the employee cannot wear the footwear and a suitable alternative cannot be provided (which in this case I would think is unlikely) then unfortunately they will not be able to continue their normal duties. Alternative work would need to be offered and if that is not suitable, then the ultimate consequence is that they cannot be employed. I was unaware that steel (or any other material) could "cause" skin ulcers - these are usually formed by prolonged pressure on the tissues without relief, disturbing the local blood flow and allowing the skin to die, become infected and drop off (sorry if you are eating while reading this). The definition is: A local defect or excavation, of the surface of an organ or tissue, which is produced by the sloughing of inflammatory necrotic tissue. Was it the doctor who stated this, or is the employee perhaps translating (or elaborating) what he/she was told? If it was the doctor, then it's a bold statement as it could cause someone to lose their livelihood. Perhaps the individual has been wearing the wrong size footwear (although again, just because the shoes are tight wouldn't normally lead to ulcers, just blisters and abrasions)? One point - you could contact a safety shoe manufacturer and find out if they have heard of this and if they have any alternatives available that you could use instead of steel-based protection. Upshot is that it looks the person is not suitable for the job, as there is unlikely to be compromise to working without fully justified PPE.

Posted By Ian stevenson Try ARCO.co.uk they supply safety footwear and could probably give advice on toecap types. Regards Ian Stevenson

Posted By Stuart Nagle Connah. I too suffer from steel toecap discomfort, where the toecap continually presses into the side of my big toes, causing pain and leading to white lumps on the side of my toes. I have broad feet and even with wide fitting safety shoes I find this a problem. Boots are not so bad (as they tend to be very wide fitting) but even then I have to wear heavy thick (uncomfortable in hot weather) socks to reduce the problem to a minimum. I would summise that your chap may have a similar problem and the constant pressure has led to ulcers on the sides of his toes etc. Very painful I would imagine... I have tried, with some success, but not a total problem solver, wearing wrist sweat bands (the sort used by tennis players etc...) around the outside of my feet over my toes. These work well for short periods, but then with the continued pressure the pain returns and I have no choice but to take the shoes off for while to releive the pressure (not whilst in an danger area of course). I have failed to find any really comfortable shoes that prevent this, and so I am stuck with wide fitting boots and thick wooly seamans socks all year round!! If you find a supplier of decent width footwear, and i've tried, let me know...

Posted By Andrew I. Butler Good Morning Connah, I would recommend a company called Jallette. They manufacture a range of safety footwear which come with 200 joule safety toecaps that are not steel. This makes the boot/shoe very light and comfortable to wear. Their two main distributors in the UK are ARCO and Greenham although they do not stock the compete range. Although these boots are a little more expensive, their comfort value far outways the cost. Regards Andy

Posted By Steve Kirk Sorry to state the obvious but Safety Trainers would seem like a good solution, they are readily available, not excessive in cost and also very comfortable.