Hi Has anyone out there successfully implemented a sensible shoe policy, HR as thrown it in my direction under H&S. The issue we have is that we've had a few minor incidents (1 or 2 per year, no injuries) where staff in high heels have slipped in our manufacturing area (dedicated walkways tiled not slippery). Due to layout of building office staff have to use these walkways to gain access to other areas. My issue is how do you tell office personnel not to wear high heels and how can you police it!!!!, I think it will have a negative affect on the workforce. If any one has a copy of good policy I could read that would be much appreciated.

Hi Sensible shoe policy ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh one persons idea of sensible shoes is sometimes not another persons version of sensible shoes. We have dedicated pedestrian walkways to get to all the shop-floor located offices. You cannot come off these walkways unless you have safety footwear and the appropriate safety training. If you remain on the walkways you are not required to wear safety footwear but you must wear sensible footwear. So perhaps we can have some definitions of sensible footwear from our forum users. !!! Steve W1

Tiled floors/walkways are likely to be more slippery than carpeted surfaces. The issue to resolve appears to be how "suitable" is the walkway and if not, is there anything you can do about it? Also, the minor incidents, has it been ascertained that the high heels were the root cause? We indeed has a sensible shoes guidelines for our lab personnel, until we mandated safety shoes for them, but not for office based personnel. Fortunately, our personnel do not have to walk through "operational" areas. Unless you have an overall " dress policy" , normally owned by HR, trying to prescribe any aspect of dress etc that is not PPE will give rise to more issues than the one you are trying to resolve.

Handrails along the walkways if possible can help prevent falls.