The joy of socks (From Bournemouth Echo)

The joy of socks

7:00pm Friday 5th February 2010

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TO some they’re a way of injecting a bit of personality into uninspiring uniforms, but for Ambulance chiefs up north, novelty socks are unprofessional and contravene crazy health and safety laws.

The strict uniform policy has been issued by North West Ambulance Service, who have also banned wrist watches, “excessive” makeup, visible body piercing and tattoos.

So strict is the policy, that staff have been warned they could face the sack if they flout the rules.

“I am a firm believer in having a dress code but this is stretching the rules too far,” says Jonathan Fox, of the Association of Professional Ambulance Personnel.

“North West Ambulance Service should be addressing more important issues like why paramedic training has been stalled for months.”

This isn’t the first time such innocuous attire has been banned from the work place.

During the cold snap earlier this year, mean bosses at Wilts & Dorset’s Poole depot banned bus drivers from wearing woolly hats and coats.

The company has a long-standing prohibition on drivers wearing hats at the wheel except in special circumstances – an the coldest winter in decades wasn’t special enough.

The partner of one bus driver said: “My partner, like many other drivers, bought a plain black woolly hat to wear while driving the bus. Bearing in mind that approximately one-third of the fleet of buses have no heating, this seemed a reasonable precaution to protect their health.”

She was aghast that the rules had been enforced by “management who sit in their warm offices and rarely venture out, let alone use a bus.”

In 2006, British Airways employee, Nadia Eweida, was banned from wearing a crucifix around her neck.

Eweida has since lost her appeal to have the decision overturned and has refused to return to her job as a Heathrow check-in worker.

British Airways, who allow turbans and hijabs to be worn, denied Eweida’s accusations of religious discrimination and insisted their uniformed staff all understood their uniform policy.

“Personal jewellery, including crosses, may be worn – but underneath the uniform,” said a spokesperson. “Our uniformed staff, many thousands of whom are Christian, have happily accepted the policy for years.”

The traditional school tie became the latest victim of “elf and safety” last summer with up to 10 schools a week switching to clip-on ties.

Schools feared pupils could accidentally be strangled or inadvertently set fire to themselves, if their neckties were to dangle in the flame of a Bunsen burner.

They also hoped the ban would prevent kids from wearing ties in an unconventional manner – responding to the trend to wear them skinny end out or with big knots. “Individual schools’ concerns about regulations and looking after their pupils to the best of their ability has led to various bans on any item which may be perceived as having the potential to cause harm,” said a spokesperson for the Schoolwear Association.

“The traditional school tie has been affected by this health and safety epidemic and Schoolwear Association members have reported a considerable increase in demand for clip-on ties as a result.”

Margaret Morrissey, a Dorset grandmother who used to work for the National Confederation of PTAs and as an Ofsted inspector said: “It’s just absolute nonsense really and the more we keep pandering to this ‘oh it’s safer and easier for children’ the more they lose their values,”

I say: At the best of times hospitals can be banal, soulless places – so why not allow a bit of colour into them?

If I was unfortunate enough to be in hospital, the flash of Homer Simpson’s face on a member of staff’s sock would be a damn sight cheerier than boring old black socks.

Surely Britain’s hospitals are the last places you want to sever the staff’s sense of fun?

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