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Don't slip up, put your best foot forward!
STATISTICS from the Health
and Safety Executive (HSE) shows slipping and tripping to be the single most
common cause of major injury in UK workplaces. With this in mind, clinical staff
in Lancashire are trialling some new footwear to keep them safe at work.
Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust's Research and Development (R&D) Department
have been giving out clinical shoes to staff in order to promote a trial of high
grip footwear with the aim of reducing staff slips during work.
The Research and Development Department are distributing 1000 pairs of shoes to
staff working on their feet in a clinical setting, for a minimum of 30 hours a
week. Taking part involves replying to one text message a week for 18 weeks,
which will ask staff how many slips they have had. ½ of the staff involved
will be randomly allocated to a control group who wear their own shoes whilst
the other ½ will trial the shoes with high grip.
Katie Glickman, Research Operations Manager at Lancashire Care NHS Foundation
Trust said:- "It is not often that we get to give something back to our
hardworking NHS staff, so we are delighted to be able to visit our services in
action and demonstrate that not only is service user health and wellbeing
important, but also that of our workforce. The Trust has invested in
supporting a varied portfolio of research for our service users but more
recently we have been able to extend these opportunities to our staff also. We
are keen to demonstrate that the Trust prioritises healthcare that moves us
forward and welcome the enthusiasm and support of staff in moving healthcare
forward."
As an incentive and thank you for
taking part all staff recruited will receive a pair of shoes to keep by the end
of the study regardless of which group they are randomised to.
If you are
interested in hearing more about the portfolio of research at the Trust, for
both staff and service users, can call the R&D Department, on:- 01772
773498 or
email them.
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