Hi there The wearing of safety shoes with protective toe caps to prevent foot injuries has been an issue with my medical electronics staff for some time.
We made safety shoes compulsory when CE staff were involved with a major hospital relocation exercise a number of years ago that involved a lot of heavy equipment movement between several sites but haven't really enforced this decision since then. Although most medical electronics staff still wear them (they are paid for by the employer) some say it's a waste of time and they are not needed at all (and have local accident records to prove it). I would therefore appreciate it if anyone could tell me the safety shoe policy in Australia (if one exists) or the policy/guidelines you observe in your State/centre/hospital for medical electronics staff. Note that we have always made safety shoes compulsory for our mechanical engineering staff who work in our engineering workshop where the risk of injury is more obvious, my query specifically relates to the staff working either in the CE/BME electronics workshop or at the frontline. Thanks in advance for any feedback Regards Murray John Manager Clinical Engineering Services Auckland District Health Board
