Foot care may seem trivial and unim­portant compared to other safety issues, but when you consider that our feet are one of the hardest working parts of the body, it doesn’t make sense that neglect and a lack of awareness of proper care, in­cluding ill-fitting shoes, bring on problems.

Constantly under stress as we go about our normal working lives, our feet work for us the whole day, whether we stand, run or walk, and in the process they become the most affected part of our anatomy, accord­ing to “Foot Healthcare in the Workplace: A Foot Care Guide for Safety Managers and Workers.”

Many things affect the condition of our feet: activity level, occupation type, other health conditions, and perhaps most impor­tantly, our shoes. Being in a working envi­ronment where you are on your feet all day is a major cause of foot problems, as the feet have little time to recuperate before the next working day commences.

People may suffer from pain in their back, legs and knees but may not associate the pain with problems concerning their feet. Untreated, such problems can lead to more long-term conditions such as chronic back pain and ligament deformity.

Feet endure tremendous pressures of daily living. An average day of walking brings a force equal to several hundred tons on them. They are subject to more injury than any other part of the body, underscor­ing the need to protect them with proper footwear.

Typical work related foot problems that today’s work shoes are designed to prevent include the following:

Punctures, crushing and lacerations: Usually due to incorrect footwear and untidy workplace practices e.g. loose nails or glass.

Blisters, calluses and corns: Caused by incorrect footwear and fatigue. Especially prevalent in professions that involve continuous standing and walking.

Aching feet: Can be caused by long peri­ods of standing on hard flooring with inad­equate shoes with hard foot-beds.

Fallen arches or flat feet: Caused by the wearing of shoes or insoles without ade­quate levels of arch support.

Sweaty feet: Generally a problem for workers in hot and humid environments or those with highly strenuous jobs.

Sprains and breaks: Caused by slippery floors and incorrect footwear.

Safety footwear must meet ANSI mini­mum compression and impact performance standards in ANSI Z41-1991 (American National Standard for Personal Protection-Protective

Footwear) or provide equivalent protection.

All ANSI-approved footwear has a pro­tective toe and offers impact and compres­sion protection. The type and amount of protection varies. Different footwear pro­tects in different ways. Check the product’s labeling or consult the manufacturer to make sure the footwear will protect the user from the hazards they face.

According to the Canadian Centre for Occupational Safety and Health, there are two major categories of work-related foot injuries. The first category includes foot in­juries from punctures, crushing, sprains, and lacerations. They account for 10 percent of all reported disabling injuries.

The second group of injuries includes those resulting from slips, trips and falls. They account for 15 percent of all reported disabling injuries. Slips and falls do not al­ways result in a foot injury but lack of at­tention to foot safety plays an important role in their occurrence.

These two categories of foot injuries, however, do not exhaust the whole range of foot problems at work. Other conditions include calluses, ingrown toenails or sim­ply tired feet that are common among work­ers. Although these may not be considered as occupational injuries in the strictest sense, they can have serious consequences for health and safety at the workplace. They cause discomfort, pain and fatigue. Fatigue sets up the worker for further injuries affecting the muscles and joints.

Also, a worker who is tired and suffer­ing pain is less alert and more likely to act unsafely. An accident of any kind may result.

There are no comprehensive statistics on these kinds of problems with feet. Surveys suggest that two out of every three workers suffer from some form of a foot problem.

How does the working position con­tribute to the foot problem? Common foot problems occur both on and off the job. Still, there is no doubt that some work-re-lated factors can lead to foot problems, es­pecially jobs that require long periods of standing. Since the human foot is designed for mobility, maintaining an upright stance is extremely tiring. Standing for hours, day after day, not only tires the worker’s feet but can also cause permanent damage. Con tinuous standing can cause the joints of bones of the feet to become misaligned (e.g., cause flat feet) and can cause inflam­mation that can lead later to rheumatism and arthritis.

How does the flooring contribute to the foot problems? The type of flooring used in the workplace has an important influence on comfort, especially on tender feet. Hard, un­yielding floors like concrete are the least com­fortable surfaces to work on. Working on a hard floor has the impact of a hammer, pounding the heel at every step. Slippery floors are hazardous for slips and falls that can result in sprained ankles or broken foot bones.

How does the foot wear contribute to the foot problems? Footwear that fits poorly or is in need of repair also contributes heavily to foot discomfort. Pointed toes and high heels are particularly inappropriate for working footwear.

Are there jobs that are safe for feet? Sta­tistics show there are not, really. Among teachers and workers in clerical occupations that belong to “safe” jobs, foot injuries ac­count for from 15 percent to more than 20

percent of all disabling injuries. Not know­ing about the need for foot protection in workplaces like schools or offices can play a role in the onset of foot problems.

How can foot injuries be prevented? There is no workplace where a worker is immune to foot injury. However, the haz­ards differ according to the workplace and the types of tasks the worker does. The first step in developing a strategy to reduce foot problems is to identify the relevant hazards at the workplace. Such hazards should be assessed in each workplace, no matter how safe or how dangerous it may seem.

How can the job design improve foot safety? Aching, flat or tired feet are com­mon among workers who spend most of their working time standing.

The most important goal of job design is to avoid fixed positions. especially fixed standing positions. Good job design in­cludes varied tasks requiring changes in body position and using different muscles. Job rotation, job enlargement and team work are all ways to make work easier on the feet.

.                       • Job rotation moves workers from one job to another. It distributes standing among a group of workers and shortens the time each individual spends standing. How­ever, it must be a rotation where the worker does something completely differ­ent such as walking around or sitting at the next job.

.                       • Job enlargement includes more and dif­ferent tasks in a worker’s duties. If it in­creases the variety of body positions and motions, the worker has less chance of de­veloping foot problems.

.                       • Team work gives the whole team more control and autonomy in planning and allocation of the work. Each team mem­ber carries a set of various operations to complete the whole product. Team work allows workers to alternate between tasks which, in turn, reduces the risk of overloading the feet.

.                       • Rest breaks help to alleviate foot problems where redesigning jobs is impractical. Fre­quent short breaks are preferable to fewer long breaks.

.                       • How can the workplace design improve foot safety? Redesigning the job alone will not effectively reduce foot problems if it is not combined with the proper design of the workplace.

.                       • For standing jobs, an adjustable work sur­face is the best choice. If the work surface is not adjustable,

two solutions include installing a platform to raise the shorter worker or a pedestal to raise the object for a taller worker.

How can one improve the foot safety in workplaces where foot injuries occur fre­quently? Job and workplace designs also have the potential to increase foot safety in workplaces that are specifically hazardous. Here are some examples:

.                       • Separating mobile equipment from pedes­trian traffic and installing safety mirrors and warning signs can decrease the num­ber of accidents that might result in cut or crushed feet or toes;

.                       • Proper guarding of machines such as chain saws or rotary mowers can avoid cuts or severed feet or toes;

.                       • Effective housekeeping reduces the num­ber of accidents at workplaces. For ex­ample, loose nails, other sharp objects, and littered walkways are hazards for foot injury; and

.                       • Using color contrast and angular lighting to improve depth vision in complicated ar­eas such as stairs, ramps and passageways reduces the hazard of tripping and falling.

How can the kind of floor improve foot comfort? Standing or working on a hard, unyielding floor can cause a lot of discom­fort. Wood, cork, carpeting, or rubber — anything that provides some flexibility — is gentler on workers’ feet. Where resilient floors are not practical, footwear with thick, insulating soles and shock-absorbing insoles can alleviate discomfort.

Anti-fatigue matting can also be useful wherever workers have to stand or walk. They provide a cushioning which reduces foot fatigue. However, the use of matting requires caution. When installed improp­erly, it can lead to tripping and slipping accidents.

Special anti-slip flooring or matting can reduce slipping accidents. If installed prop­erly, these mats are useful, but workers may find that their feet burn and feel sore. The non-slip properties of the flooring mat cause their shoes to grab suddenly on the flooring making their feet slide forward inside the shoes.

Friction inside the shoes produces heat that creates soreness and, eventually, cal­luses. A non-slip resilient insole can reduce this discomfort. What should I know about footwear? Proper footwear is important, not only for foot comfort but also for one’s general well­being. Improper footwear can cause or ag­gravate existing foot problems. Unfortunately, being fashionable sometimes takes precedence over choosing well-fitting, supportive safety footwear. However, many safety footwear manufacturers produce safety footwear that does look fashionable.

When selecting footwear, one should re­member that tight socks or stockings can cramp the toes as much as poorly-fitted shoes. Wrinkled socks, or socks that are too large or too small, can cause blisters. White woolen or cotton socks may be rec­ommended since colored socks cause skin allergies in some people.