Hospital trusts are considering banning staff from wearing pairs of rubber clogs, known as Crocs, because of health and safety fears.

Static electricity caused by the popular footwear has been implicated in the malfunctioning of electrical medical equipment at hospitals in Sweden. There have also been concerns that blood or bodily fluids could seep through the holes in the top of the shoes, and that needles could penetrate the rubbery resin.

Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Foundation NHS Trust was reported last night to have already banned staff from wearing the footwear.

Nurses said yesterday that the comfortable shoes help them through long shifts spent on their feet. Gail Adams, head of nursing for Unison, told Nursing Standard magazine: “As long as nurses are not turning up for work in fuchsia pairs I do not see a problem.”

One anonymous nurse told the magazine: “My feet have been in heaven since I wore Crocs. But last week I was informed that I can no longer wear these shoes because of health and safety issues.”

The Crocs, which adorn the feet of celebrities including Jack Nicholson and Kate Moss, as well as golf caddies and others with onerous walking duties, were created in 2002 and by last year there were annual worldwide sales of £178 million.

The shoes, made from a resin called Croslite, were originally designed as an outdoor or boating shoe, but have broadened their appeal due to their reported comfort and slip-resistance.

After the incidents in Sweden, when equipment including a patient’s respirator was knocked out, the company that imports the shoes into Britain said it was investigating.

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