What Are Non Slip Shoes and Why Do Restaurant Workers Need Them?
, by Ed Stone, 6 min reading time
, by Ed Stone, 6 min reading time
Non slip shoes, or slip resistant shoes, are uniquely designed to minimize slips and falls in the workplace—particularly in food service environments where slips and falls are the number one cause of injury on the job.1
In this article, we’ll dive deeper into the question, what are slip resistant shoes and how to tell if shoes are non-slip, as well as exploring how a non-slip shoe is made and why they’re so important for restaurant workers. By the end of this article, you’ll understand why restaurant slip resistant shoes should be a non-negotiable part of your work shoe collection.
Slip resistant shoes are specially constructed to:2
Improve durability and foot and ankle support for long periods of standing or walking
Prevent slips and falls in the workplace
A slip resistant work shoe generally has a few common construction elements that make them both useful for food service and easily identifiable to shoppers or uniform managers:
Studies show that slip resistant shoes significantly reduce the number of workplace slip and fall injuries for restaurant workers.3 But why do these specialized shoes make such an impact on the health and safety of food service employees?
Restaurant workers encounter significantly more slippery environments than the average person.
Imagine you’re in your home kitchen making an average dinner—perhaps sauteed vegetables, pan-fried chicken, and black beans. While you’re prepping and cooking, you’re almost guaranteed to spill something on the countertop or floor, and you don’t always have a spare second to clean up the spill right away.
Now, imagine back-of-house staff—cooks, chefs, and dishwashers—moving at a significantly faster pace and cooking for multiple tables at once. The combination of a higher workload and a quicker pace makes it more likely that they’ll spill something, significantly increasing their likelihood of slipping in a spilled liquid.
Plus, front-of-house workers racing into the kitchen to call out an order, run food to tables, or even head out back for their break are unlikely to have seen these spills happen and could be caught off guard when they step into a pool of grease.
Ultimately, non-slip shoes protect restaurant workers—both front- and back-of-house staff—from the slips and falls that are significantly more likely to happen in commercial kitchens. They’re a crucial safety tool for these fast-paced, messy environments.
Restaurant workers are, unfortunately, some of the least likely employees to receive adequate benefits packages, particularly health insurance coverage.4If you’re an uninsured food service worker, preventing slip and fall injuries is vital to both:
For people without health insurance, receiving medical care to treat sprains, fractures, or broken bones can pose financially devastating consequences. If you’re one of many restaurant workers without an employer-provided benefits package, avoiding injuries with adequate tools—like non-slip shoes—will protect both your body and your wallet.
For restaurant workers, wearing a pair of slip resistant shoes on the clock should be a top priority. These shoes are uniquely designed to prevent slip and fall injuries, which are the most common workplace injury in the food service industry—and, without proper healthcare coverage, treatment for a preventable injury could jeopardize a worker’s finances.
Understanding how to clean work shoes is also essential to keeping your non-slip shoes in good condition, in order to maintain the quality of the slip resistant soles.
If you’re ready to find the best restaurant shoes and pick up your first pair of non-slip kicks, you can trust the experts at Boot World to help you choose the perfect option. Since 1975, restaurant professionals in California and beyond have trusted us for all of their workplace footwear needs, and our professional team is ready to help you stay safe and stylish at work.
In an industry where slip resistant shoes are a must, Boot World has the expertise and the inventory to help you find the perfect pair and keep yourself protected—both on and off the clock.
If you’re interested in slip-resistant shoes for women and styles of men’s slip resistant shoes, check out our collection of safety & slip-resistant shoes today!
A Final Boot World Advantage Tip: In today’s modern world, there are no shoes that are entirely slip-resistant. Instead of searching for the most slip-resistant shoe possible, the trick to remaining on your feet is working in an environment that is frequently cleaned of contaminants that could lead to accidents, like water and oil. Other forms of debris like small rocks, glass and loose food can become lodged in your work shoes increasing the likelihood of an accident occurring and turning even the most slip-resistant shoe into a slip-and-slide.