Ditching my Heels!

I will always remember those first visits that I made to industrial plants! So many fond memories! There’s one that happened at least 5 years ago when I refused to ditch my heels and ended up paying the ultimate price!

When I first started out in the Industrial sector, I had to visit some plants and do some field work. I am a shoe-holic. I LOVE shoes! I used to wear 3 – 4 inch heels to the office every day and could be heard a mile away when I was walking down the corridor. When I started going out into the field, I figured, there shouldn’t be much need to change after all I may not have to go by the equipment and if so I would have enough time to change my shoes. So I dressed sensibly, I wore closed toe heels, while being stylish, they still covered my toes. No need for a steel tip right? Completely wrong!

On my first visit to a steel plant in Point Lisas, I was super excited! I asked about PPE and they said, no you will just be coming to the office so you should be fine. In this particular plant, some brilliant engineer decided that the staircase to all of the offices needed to be built out of this steel grating. Imagine my horror in trying to assess the manner in which to climb these stairs in my 3 inch heels!!!! I decided the best option was to tip toe in them. Tip toeing in heels? Is that even possible?!! Yes, it definitely is, when placed in situations like these it is amazing how your creative instincts kick in. I placed most of the balance on the ball of my feet (where the shoe has the most coverage and will not fall thorough the grating), grabbed on to the railing at the side for dear life, balanced by handbag on my other shoulder and proceeded to try to climb these stairs.

There were a couple of stairs that my heel went right through the grating and my heart skipped a couple of beats but I climbed on! I refused to let my inner petrifying screams be heard and continued up the staircase projecting full confidence. When I finally reached the top, I felt accomplished! Then, they decided to give me a tour of the plant!

“Oh no”, I groaned inwardly, “more grating”. Nevertheless, I marched on, holding tight to the railings and ensuring that my footing was as secure as it could get. Now, when you are in a steel plant, there are two words that are almost synonymous to the environment, hot and dirty. Upon entering the control room, one of the engineers acknowledged my dirt riddled hand and graciously offered me a couple of napkins. These were my new best friends! As we traipsed through the furnace area, I used the napkins to hold on for dear life to the railing and some aspect of cleanliness was achieved. They helped a lot!!! Its colour changed completely by the time we were through but was I ever grateful for those napkins!

Now came the real challenge. Going back down the stairs. My eyes bulged! I hadn’t thought of the trek back. How do you tiptoe when going down the stairs, clutching the handrail and balancing the handbag??!!! Ladies, you know exactly what I mean! I took a couple of deep breaths and started the journey. The main issue was that the heel of the shoe was a tad bit small, okay it was about 1 centimetre in diameter and it was difficult to use this as additional surface area for my shoe base. I decided to place my heels at a 45 degree angle so that the heel strategically rests on one of the intersections of the gratings. This definitely helped!

At the end of the staircase, I breathed a sigh of relief that I was finally back on flat, non-perforated ground! I had never had so much anxiety climbing down stairs in my life! I thanked God that I didn’t fall headfirst down the stairs and that I made it through the entire tour with my heels and body intact. That was the last time that I ever wore heels to a plant! From that day onwards, I ditched my heels (some of them had started to get damaged because of the rough environment in the plants, I will not sacrifice my shoes like that!) and donned the steel toe safety shoes. Now, I walk with so much more ease and peace of mind than on that first day!

I guess there are times when the 3 inch heels have to be replaced for the heavier, safer things in life that can actually help you quite a lot when walking through industrial areas. Now, my steel toe shoes (and other PPE) have occupied into their almost permanent residence in the back of my van. Always remember that it takes approximately 5 minutes to change your shoes and this 5 minutes can be the major difference between climbing a steel grating in heels or enjoying a much more comfortable journey in an industrial plant. Safety first!