Open-toe sandals 'are a safety risk in nurseries', says teachers' leader

Nurseries should stop staff wearing open-toed shoes because they are a safety risk, a teachers' leader warned yesterday.

Growing numbers of young nursery nurses are endangering the safety of themselves and toddlers by wearing inappropriate shoes, Deborah Lawson claimed.

Staff are liable to suffer injury from toys or blocks falling on their exposed toes or bikes being ridden over them, said Mrs Lawson, of classroom union Voice.

And little children often inadvertently stand on the backs of teachers' flip-flops, causing them to trip.

Mrs Lawson, a former chairman of Voice who has called for minimum entry standard to raise the calibre of nursery nurses, said staff had been known to turn up for work wearing chunky platforms or heels which could easily catch little fingers as infants crawl along the floor.

'We are not saying nursery nurses should wear flat, fuddyduddy shoes that are anti-fashion. It is about wearing clothing and footwear that is appropriate to the job you are doing,' she said.

'You don't see many rubbish collectors in sling-backs. You see some students wearing these huge clumpy, chunky shoes, flip-flops or heels.

'You need to have something substantial that is going to protect you.'

Mrs Lawson, a former nursery nurse who now works as a local authority officer, has previously criticises the calibre of some new recruits to the profession, accusing them of wearing unsuitable clothes and discussing their social lives in front of toddlers.

'It is about people having common sense,' she said. 'Children get so excited and so involved in play that things fall over.

'They might have built something quite high and want to show you but it is just as much fun to knock it down, causing a few dozen wooden bricks to come crashing down.'

She urged nurseries to consult staff with a view to introducing dress codes.

'We would urge nurseries to consider what they are allowing their staff to wear,' she said.