Photo: “Mongolie Grill @ Whistler Village” by Hideyuki KAMON on Flickr

Chefs at Mongolie Grill in Whistler, BC, Canada are wearing shoes you might not expect to see.

He is wearing the Crocs Bistro: Kitchen Chef Work Shoe which is now the standard for all their kitchen staff. The shoes are designed specifically for people in the restaurant, food service, hospitality, and health care industries with non-slip properties that exceed ANSI requirements.

I found out about this non-traditional approach to safety footwear while dining out in Whistler. It was exciting to find this workplace safety tidbit on a weekend away. I took the photos while standing with the rest of the restaurant guests, watching the chefs fry our delicious food on a big, round, open grill.

How to reduce risks of slips in restaurants

Non-slip shoes like these are just one line of defence against slips in a restaurant kitchen. Health and Safety for Hospitality Small Business, a booklet from WorkSafeBC, lists additional preventive measures, including:

• Cleaning floors regularly
• Cleaning up spills immediately
• Keeping floors free of water and grease
• Posting warning signs around spills or wet floors
• Using slip-resistant waxes to polish and treat floors
• Installing non-slip tiling or other non-slip floor products
• Using rubber mats in areas where the floors are constantly wet

More resources

Clean up spills and keep floors clean. Wear proper footwear, a poster from WorkSafeBC

Prevention of Slips, Trips and Falls from CCOHS

Preventing Slips, Trips and Falls from WorkSafeBC