81 High heels
Submitted by Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists
Feet bear the brunt of daily life, and for many workers prolonged standing, badly fitted footwear, and in particular high heels can be a hazard in the workplace. Around two million days a year are lost through sickness as a result of lower limb disorders.
In 2007 the Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists launched its working feet campaign to give women some helpful foot care advice on how ‘working feet’ problems can be avoided. Following this campaign in 2008 the TUC issued a guide called Working Feet and Footwear, which includes a checklist for health and safety representatives.
Many employers in the retail sector force women workers to wear high heels as part of their dress code. Wearing high heels can cause long-term foot problems, such as blisters, corns and callus, and also serious foot, knee and back pain and damaged joints. However, more needs to be done to raise awareness of this problem so that women workers and their feet are protected.
Congress calls on all employers who have dress codes that promote high heels to examine the hazards their women workers face and ensure that proper risk assessments are carried out, and that where these show the wearing of high heels is hazardous the high heels should be replaced with sensible and comfortable shoes.
Congress believes high heels may look glamorous on the Hollywood catwalks but are completely inappropriate for the day-to-day working environment.
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Well done for putting forward this motion and showing the British press and media (with honourable exceptions) at its absolute worse when it comes to ‘elf & safety”!
What a load of complete rubbish and drivel has been published about this very sensible and informative motion. How anyone can disagree with any single word of it is beyond me.
This is SUCH East European Claptrap.
Women wearing high heels happens in the work place because the women involved know they can look good. They are worn much less in retail in terms of those on their feet, but for plenty of female professionals, they are a natural choice.
Stop telling wimmin to wear dungarees and the like.
This motion seeks to stop employers imposing an unnecessary risk on employees. How can anybody have a problem with that?
As a registered podiatrist, I agree with the motion of my professional body.
I spend a signifcant portion of my working day dealing with the complications of inappropriate footwear, in particular excessive heel height.
What a number of people that argue aginst this sensible motion often do not realise, is that problems are not often immediate, indeed the number of people that suffer from severely debilitating foot conditions in older age, is as a direct result of inappropriate footwear during their working life. In addition the risk to persons with diabetes cannot be underestimated with risk of ulceration and infection from inappropriate footwear a very real and common risk.
Employers should remember that conditions such as diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis often require people to alter their footwear to prevent complications in the lower limb, and to continue to enforce dress codes and policies which act against medical advice would be viewed as a breach of the disability discrimation act which all chronic conditions now fall under.
Sensible, judicious and occassional use of high heels will cause little harm, but regular use for normal working activities does indeed have consequences in the short, medium and long term.
The SCP should be congratulated for bring this motion to congress, and the congress itself applauded for carrying this sensible and balanced motion, which is based on research evidence.
High heels spark TUC debate…
Why is it that women care so much about their shoes? This mystery deserves rigorous investigation and…
[...] regard it as a call for women to be banned from wearing high heels anywhere and at anytime. See here if you don’t believe [...]