"Unofficial" Shoe Safety Week Announced (Or Beware the Sole-less Journalist)

Sarasota, FL (CompNewsNetwork) - In light of the recent "shoe" incident involving President Bush, we have compiled a sample list of shoe-related workplace injuries from our case law library.
 
A worker can suffer injuries from a variety of shoe-related causes (see a sample of actual cases below):
 
1. Slipping or falling on slippery or wet surfaces from wearing improper shoes.
 
2. Stumbling or tripping on objects improperly or negligently placed on the work area floor.
 
3. Foot injuries, infections, or disease from wearing tight or wrong type of shoes.
 
4. Objects falling on one's foot can cause serious injury to a worker if barefoot or wearing no shoes.
 
5. Tripping on improperly tied shoe laces.
 
6. Bending over to tie one's shoe shoe laces can result in back injury.  (see case #1 below)
 
7. Head injury from a shoe thrown by a disgruntled worker or reporter.
 
Actual Case Law
 
1. State of Ohio ex rel. Robert Rutherford, Relator, v. Industrial Commission of Ohio and Coca-Cola Enterprises, Inc., Respondents.
In my 29-years of orthopaedic practice it was extremely common to see patients present with lumbar disc herniations with any type of forward bending such as to bend over to tie your shoe, bend over to [turn] on a TV or pick up a small object from the floor. This shoe tying incident, in my opinion, was the cause of the disc herniation that occurred in January of 2003.

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2. Blake v. Neighborhood Hous. Servs. of N.Y. City
2003 NYSlipUp 19690
December 23, 2003
 
He acknowledged that the ladder was steady, had rubber shoes and was in proper working condition. When plaintiff began scraping rust from a window, however, the upper portion of the ladder retracted and he suffered an ankle injury.
 
3. Carl E. La Fever, Plaintiff-Appellee/Cross-Appellant v. Kemlite Company, a Division of Dyrotech Industries, Inc., Defendant-Appellant/Cross-Appellee.
 
Banner/Western held safety meetings to teach the roll-off drivers how to be careful and supplied its drivers with a shovel and special shoes for slippery areas. 
 
Remember,  if the shoe fits, wear it.  Don't wait for the other shoe to fall (or hit you in the head), practice shoe safety in the workplace!

Moral: A shoe in the hand, is worth two at the Bush?

Disclaimer: This post does not necessarily reflect the opinions of WorkersCompensation.com or my red meat Republican boss...

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