The workforce is growing older and many workers are continuing to work past the usual retirement age. Many of today’s jobs require workers to spend many demanding hours on their feet; walking, standing for long periods of time, lifting and mounting equipment. These activities create a punishing pressure that can be measured up to three times body weight and must be absorbed by worker’s feet – especially older workers. As a result, work-related foot injuries are becoming commonplace. The American National Safety Council has reported that approximately 120,000 job-related foot injuries occur in the United States annually.
 
Among the most debilitating and chronic of these foot injuries is increased incidence of plantar fasciitis, an inflammation of the plantar fascia, a thick connective tissue that stretches between the heel and the base of the toes, supporting the arch of the foot.
 
The constant, pounding of heavy loads on feet brought about by everyday work tasks can cause the plantar fascia to become irritated or inflamed, causing extreme pain in the center of the heel and sometimes radiating into the arch of the foot. Most people try to "work through the pain," ignoring warning signs until the condition becomes so bad that they can barely stand. Although caused by long periods of work-related pressures bearing on the foot, the painful symptoms of plantar fasciitis can occur suddenly. But with proper diagnosis and early treatment, the condition can heal rapidly.
 
The human foot is a complex structure made up of 26 bones, 33 joints, 107 ligaments, and 19 muscles and tendons. In fact, combining the bones in both feet they make up one quarter of all the bones in the human body, making feet a prime target for workplace injury. For employers, this is a potentially serious matter of both risk avoidance and worker comfort and health.
 
Savvy businesses will recognize the potential costs of lost productivity and injury claims, and will address this threat of heel injury before the claims and related costs start piling up. As a rule, most employers only require safety shoes to protect against external cause of foot injury, but until now have not addressed the increasing exposure to risks associated with internal injury to heel tissues, to say nothing of the potentially high costs of treatment and compensation.
 
At a minimum, employers should address this risk through development of new safety committee policies and worker education outreach. Preventative foot care aids such as flooring pads and shoe inserts are also available.
 
The most important aspect of eliminating exposure to heel pain claims is educating employees to be alert to changes in the foot and heel. Symptoms such as sudden tenderness or a burning "hot spot" in the middle of the heel can be signs of problems. Such signs should not be ignored, especially when occurring upon rising in the morning or upon standing after sitting for a period of time. A sure sign of plantar fasciitis is the sensation of a sharp pain in the middle of the heel that feels like having a piece of gravel caught in your shoe. When such symptoms are experienced, immediate orthotic treatment is vital to cushion and redistribute the pressure on the heel and stretch the injured tissue, providing pain relief.
 
The Heel-Well insole is an orthotic device specifically designed to provide relief by redistributing pressure and elevating the heel to stretch the plantar fascia. The Heel Well insole not only relieves pain but also provides the optimum condition for allowing the injured plantar fascia to heal.
 
For any business, the skilled people who do the work are its most important asset. Like any valuable asset, trained workers must be protected against debilitating injury. These assets are carried by their feet out the door (and out of manager’s control) every night. Protecting a huge investment in people through simple and effective workplace injury prevention just might ensure that those key assets walk back in the door tomorrow morning. It’s the smart choice for business.