Not wearing shoes in the office

marc

This one seems pretty lame to me, but our safety director asked that I post it, so here goes.

We have a number of younger staff who frequently walk through our carpeted office without shoes. Finally senior management noticed and had a talk with the ees in question, explaining the image issues and safety issues.

The safety director was particularly upset having personal experience some years ago with stepping on a staple lying on the carpet near a copier. This injury became severely infected causing all of the things you would expect from this type of problem.

Now a senior management supervisor (the one to whom most of the earlier mentioned offenders report)happened to mention in passing that she regularly walks around the office in the evening without shoes. Sees no problem since the public we serve is not in the building. The safety director is irate and wants to write her up, etc, etc.

Thoughts?

Don D

I don't know who writes up whom in your environment, or that that would be the answer to your dilemma. But, I do agree with the safety officer's position. Safety Officers (and I wear that hat also) are paid, in part, to address all of the safety concerns on the property and we tend to get really anal in our observations and the ratholes and dark corners we look into. Other managers and all employees are obligated to heed the safety advice, no matter how trivial one thinks it is. The opinion of the woman who flits around after dark in her stocking feet is irrelevant. When she busts her toe or steps on something that injurs her, she'll be bitching and moaning all the way to the comp form cabinet.

Whatever

At my company, the observance of safety rules is a requirement not an option. The supervisor would get a warning to comply.

safety

I agree with Don D and Whatever. It sounds as if this manager has a safety culture issue and the problem is deeper than a no-shoes-after-hours thing. I am a firm believer that if top line managers do not set the standard then how can we expect anything different from their underlings?

mwild31

Yes. Don't write her up. Inform her of the requirement to wear shoes (which I agree with you, is pretty lame) and let that be it. Safety Directors are notoriously uber safety oriented, and it's a VERY GOOD thing in just about all circumstances, but this one. A write up seems over the top, unless it continues to occur.

marc

Thanks for the alternate point of view. This is in fact exactly what I did.

POPEYE

Marc, Not knowing what type industry you are in since your profile is disabled, my question would be, "How would you treat the production worker or truck driver that decided to go shoeless in the plant on or the road?"

A safety violation is a safety violation and should be treated the same. If a written warning would go to the production worker for not wearing shoes then this or these indivuduals should be treated no different. Also, it would make no difference what time of day it is or if the lights are out or burning bright. Do you run a stop sign just because there are no cars coming?

marc

I understand the distinctions you are making. We are in a pure office environment. For example, our only MSDS sheets have to do with the cleaning supplies the janitors use. We use normal office equipment so limited exposure there.

It does not make a difference to me, if the worker is top management or entry level, we enforce the rules equally. Our Exec Dir, admitted to going without shoes and discontinued the practice to help set a good example. I will say that not all safety violations carry the same weight. Just as not all violations of policy are equal. It is wrong to steal from your employer, but how many ees have pens, paper clips and other sundry items at home? Examples are too numerous to mention throughout our society regarding the degree of a thing - that may not make it right, but it is imminently practical.

And to answer your question about the stop light; I admit to looking carefully all around before doing so, but I certainly have done it. In the middle of the night, driving between small towns in Kansas - with no traffic to control, it seemed to ridiculous not to. Never got in an accident, never got a ticket.

mwild31

Hi Popeye - I knew Marc was in an office environment from his previous posts, which is why I phrased my response the way I did.