To think workmen should always carry overshoes

[Pissedoff1234]

I know that people keeping their shoes on or taking them off inside is a contentious issue on MN but surely workmen should carry them regardless. That way, if someone wants you to take your shoes off but you can't for health and safety purposes then you can put those on. If they don't care, they keep their shoes on.

I don't care which one individuals prefer but I'm very much a shoes off person and we've just got new carpets upstairs so when the workman came in, I asked if he would take his shoes off. He said that he couldn't. I asked if he had overshoes and he said he didn't.

Disaster averted as I had some that I gave him but surely it should be something all should carry with them.

What are overshoes ? I'm picturing a huge shoe that goes on the top of your normal shoe - which sounds quite niche.

I don't know about workmen always having them - many don't often need to go inside a house so they'd hardly be used. What are the health and safety reasons for not taking shoes off ?

They're like elasticated bags that go over the shoes.

The workman in question today is a gas/boiler type person who I'm pretty sure works inside most of the time.

100% agree

@KurriKurri I properly laughed out loud at that

If your'e on about the blue elasticated things that are often found at pools and are not designed to be worn on typical domestic surfaces and provide next to no grip YABU simply because they are not actually practical to wear in many situations so having them would be pointless.
To be honest for the vast majority of tradesmen I'd have thought there work would cause at least as much mess as a typical pair of shoes would and its not as though the average tradesman appears in shoes they have just walked through a muddy forrest in.

What are the health and safety reasons for not taking shoes off ?

In my role it is standing on a sharp object within the home, dropping something heavy on my foot, or possibly the need to flee from a violent situation within the home.

What are the health and safety reasons for not taking shoes off ?

In my role it is standing on a sharp object within the home, dropping something heavy on my foot, or possibly the need to flee from a violent situation within the home.

Are you my mother? She'd happily have everyone wearing overshoes over their slippers or socks if she could enforce it.

I agree, we had a guy just delivering a sofa, so not a workman who spends time on a building site, and he walked mud all through the hall and living room carpet.

The Sky engineers always seem to have them.

I understand both sides but there is the potential to slip with over shoes on. So I get why people say no. Its at their discretion. In my job we send people into people's home and I have to explain that they may say no due to the potential slip hazard.

I would consider it a bonus if anyone visiting my home knew to bring 'overshoes '. It might be more practical for the home owner to keep a supply on hand.

Should the onus not be on the householder to have overshoes if they want people to wear them?

That's how it works at the swimming pool - the pool management want them worn, so they provide them.

If the OP is so precious about her carpets, she should provide visitors with overshoes. Surely they are not expensive?
This attitude is part and parcel of calling people "Workmen", who are almost certainly "Tradesmen", and proud of it.

Disaster averted Disaster? Oh dear, OP, very precious, let's hope you never have to face a real disaster.

Do the people that not mind dirty shoes on carpets have lots of money? Genuine question. My carpets have to last a long long time. I can’t afford for people to leave marks or stains from shoes.

We had to carry them in my last job as a carer because if a homeowner said they didn't want our shoes on their carpets we couldn't take our shoes off. Thanks to this I still have a ready supply & have no issues doling them out to workmen. The last workmen in were not doing a messy job but managed to traipse half a field through the flat.

Come on!! Where I live tradesmen ALL have the paperlike elasticized "overshoes" and use them, whether or not anyone asks them to! In poor weather conditions, wet, muddy shoes really ruin things and make for a lot of work cleaning up. In many countries (Japan, anyone?) it is unthinkable to wear outdoor shoes in a home.

words fail me - try having a 2 dogs and 3 kids - you'll welcome the 'workmen' back with open arms

If they don't care, they keep their shoes on. Nice gentle sneer at the shoes-on brigade, OP.