They arent fit and able to do the job. And therefore unable to mee their side of the employment agreement.

Redploy else where or terminate.

How long were they employed before they presented with this issue? Is it because the boots are too heavy? They have high arches and need inserts? There are so many different options available now. You can get safety shoes that look like sneakers, they have a composite toe cap and are much lighter and more comfortable.
They will have bigger medical issues if they lose some toes.

We had similar issues in the past, but the medical form was too generic and the individual couldn't explain the problem properly. We organized a phone call appointment with the GP who explained the problem and some solutions to fix, similar modifications were required for their personal footwear. We then contacted an orthotic supplier for the relevant insoles.

They arent fit and able to do the job. And therefore unable to mee their side of the employment agreement.

Redploy else where or terminate. — Andrew

Crikey Andrew, a bit harsh, and a volley in the direction of the ground end terminations of your legs :lol: given the present labour supply, Terri & Detta's approach works for me

My mistake. I had assumed the logical first solution of trying to get boots that work had already been tried.

I've just had a GP sign an employee off for two weeks due to "bruising" caused by the boots.

Employee sent me photos of his Tinea that he accepts was fixed by cream - which is what he was after from the GP.

That one was kicked right back to ACC

So I am a bit toey when it comes to medical claims related to boots. And GP's falsely (fraudulently) advocating for their patients.

I I wish. I recently got no where disputing an accepted ACC work injury claim for a work boot rubbing against a bunion causing it to ulcerate. We discovered the worker had failed to tell us 18 months prior of a diagnosis for diabetes that was poorly managed and a recent tendency for the feet to swell excessively during the day. A look at the feet post event revealed swollen, discoloured ankles, long sharp toe nails and feet that are calloused with numerous corns/bunions sticking out from the skin. Foot/wound care is poor, worker cannot reach feet. The work injury referral was made by A&E with a note that the workers personal GP should be consulted in assessing the validity of the claim, ACC accepted it anyway and paid the worker weekly ACC compensation on the workers own Doctor's standard sick note not the ACC118. Now that the worker is back at work we hope padding the foot with foam will help prevent a similar injury..(unlikely).

Snap. I had the misfortune of viewing the photos my employee sent me of his feet.

Patently obvious foot care was a class he missed at school. And his wages weren't enough to pay for clippers.

I won't post the photo's - suffice to say the images will stay with me for life.

If your worker is injured because they are not wearing safety shoes when the wearing of them would have prevented the injury, THEY ARE STILL GOING TO BE OFF WORK because you, their employer exposed them to the hazard. Harsh or not; If they cannot wear proscribed safety footwear or any PPE, then you must be considered negligent if you leave them in an area of risk. If you cannot remove or lessen the risk with protection, remove the person from the risk. To quote many a Mother; "You may sometimes have to be cruel to be kind.

Might want to reread Detta and Terri's posts Murray, they aren't advising not wearing safety shoes, just working with the workers doctors to find safety foot wear that will work for them. That has to be better than sacking them, in these tight labour times

Depends on the role/ If admin role and not in workshop/manufacturing area closed shoe fine if in low risk areas i.e. walkways and office areas. If in high risk area go the consultation route. Note any exemptions or variations in the risk assessment. Reminder to go through previous incidents (I normally do a 3 year check) to determine if any prior incidents and include this data in the risk assessment. Keep

Perhaps Steve, you and I read and or comprehend slightly differently. I understood that the doctor issued an "Exemption" from wearing safety boots. That didn't sound (to me) like a doctor's invitation to engage in the selection of safety boots. From Kathy's story I took the explanation that her firm had already gone through an extensive procedure to allow the staff initially to choose from a preferred range and then to another supplier to select from a wider range. Could we expect a doctor to do more than this? I think not. Of course the first line of attack must be to do everything "practicable" to fit each worker with suitable PPE. This has been done already. The next, unfortunate, step can be little else than to separate the worker from the hazard. Personally, I would rather take an enforced change in employment than to become disabled through a preventable work accident.

We organized a phone call appointment with the GP who explained the problem and some solutions to fix, similar modifications were required for their personal footwear. We then contacted an orthotic supplier for the relevant insoles. — Terri

As I said, Terri's approach to this problem works for me, of course, if there is no way safety foot wear can be worn, consideration to redeployment or termination would become the final outcome

Depends on the role/ If admin role and not in workshop/manufacturing area closed shoe fine if in low risk areas i.e. walkways and office areas. — TracyRichardson

This is a good point that (surprisingly) hadn't been mentioned till now - has the need for safety footwear been reviewed to ensure they are actually required and are actually minimising a real risk? Especially important if the requirement to wear safety footwear is due to a site-wide blanket rule.

Also if the employee medical condition is being aggravated by the employer's requirement to wear safety footwear could this then now (potentially) be considered a workplace risk/injury. Makes it even more critical to work with the employee to reach a practical solution (even if that ends up needing to be redeployment/redundancy).

Couple of quick couple of points to summarise above
- if an employee has a disability (manky feet) an employer has an obligation to to take reasonable steps to accommodate that disability. So finding alternative boots is the right thing to do
- if wearing safety boots was a requirement of the job and the person can no longer wear safety boots they can no longer meet their side of the employment agreement. Redeployment elsewhere would be preferable to an otherwise termination of employment.

(Oh - and so often I have seen the token attempt to "manage" safety which is a blanket requirement to wear safety boots irrespective on any risk assessment and subsequent determination that boots are the only option left. Remembering PPE is bottom of the cliff stuff)

Sounds like a good range of ideas here.
My 10 cents:
Go back to original risk assessment for the requirement to wear Safety Footwear, then compare with the employees current circumstances.
Can the risk be reduced, as Andrew said, via redeployment, alternate duties etc.?
Is this a permanent "exemption" from wearing safety footwear? Is it a treatable, temporary and they will be able to go back to safety footwear after treatment.
As Andrew stated PPE is low on the Hierarchy of controls, however many organisations like to do the "Safety Dance" and provide the perception of safety through Safety Boots, Hi viz, hardhats etc. rather than putting in hard controls (Isolation, Engineering controls etc)

https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/prevention/ppe/footwear_assessment.html
https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/prevention/ppe/foot_com.html

Everyone is quick to point out that safety footwear is low in the hierarchy. But working in engineering it is essential as they drop stuff on a regular basis so the footwear has probably prevented a lot of injuries.

Very true, I can't argue with that.
I have had cases of forklift versus safety boots, the safety boots were crushed but the team members feet were fine.
I would hate to see the same incidents without safety footwear involved.

Absolutely right Don, moving any kind of heavy load calls for safety footwear IMO Rima, whether by hand, pallet lifter, forklift, crane etc, as does doing bench work on heavy/sharp items that could topple off.

Absolutely. My suggestion would always be the last resort.
But, in fairness, the way the problem was presented it sure looked like the final position had been reached. I quote: "We have several staff members however, that have presented letters from their GPs stating that they have a medical issue and they need to be excused from wearing safety boots."
I admit, I am still amazed to hear of a medical doctor who sidelines as a cobbler.

Good info here Jane. Your checklist provides some guidance of 'all practicable steps' in assessing the risks to an individual's work hazards. So, if it turns out that the risk is not significant, then why require steel cap boots?

Thank you everyone for the informative comments. There is some call for removing the mandate for safety footwear in some of our areas; I am currently working through the options and assessing the need for them.

A quick question - how do these people (with manky feet) manage to function outside of work? Do they never wear footwear?

I'll follow up with the "several staff members" angle.Either safety boots aren't really required for their role, as has been mentioned above, and they have all decided together to get a doctor certificate to get out of the requirement.

Or, the other possibility that springs to mind is that something about the job (or the footwear options they have) is causing a foot problem and the resulting doctors visits. Perhaps investigate that angle.

I know from personal experience that a good podiatrist can do much more than a normal GP. Refer your staff to a podiatrist and the problem may go away.

That was sort of Terri's suggestion above Garth, but the Podiatrist angle wouldn't hurt either.

We organized a phone call appointment with the GP who explained the problem and some solutions to fix, similar modifications were required for their personal footwear. We then contacted an orthotic supplier for the relevant insoles. — Terri Coopland

The other part of your post raises a question that only the OP can answer, are the staff on this manufacturing site that are suddenly "unable" to wear safety foot wear, manufacturing team members, or office/other staff who either infrequently go into workshop/factory areas, or never go into them.

They re presenting themselves a s a safety risk

you may need to look at your interview and Induction process, ask all applicants if they have any issues wearing Safety Boots/Footwear.