All posts by Bill Coyne

Let me share an interesting anecdote from one of my many, reluctant visits to Costco. It was my day off, and I found myself strolling through the colossal store with a concise shopping list in hand. As I loaded my cart with an astonishing 1,000 paper plates, something caught my eye and brought me to a halt. It was a captivating display of ice cleats.

Are ice cleats safe to wear indoors? In most cases, the answer would be no. Traditional ice cleats are designed for a sole purpose: preventing slip and fall incidents on icy surfaces. Picture an airport in the middle of January, someplace like Chicago that experiences brutal winters. The employees who work outdoors need footwear that will keep them slipping when they walk, so they put on a pair of ice cleats, allowing them to walk safely over slick surfaces. Once they get inside, it’s a whole different story. Read on to learn why most ice cleats are not meant for indoor wear, and to find out m[…]

In our business, there is a perfect time to concentrate on reducing winter slips and falls. And that time is now. Winter is here, and as a safety professional, it is crucial to prioritize the safety of your employees by addressing your ice cleat and traction aid program. It cannot be stressed enough how important it is to have your traction aids in stock no later than October 1st. This ensures that your employees are as safe as possible, as they will have ice cleats before the inclement weather arrives.

Sometimes, experience is earned the hard way. Bear with me while I start this story from the beginning. I had a conversation with a customer that left me confused. He had previously purchased ice traction cleats from Winter Walking while working in a different industry. Now he’s the safety lead with a new employer and he is looking to replicate the success he had with our winter PPE. He explained to me that his new employer has had a long history of winter slip and fall incidents in ice and snow conditions. He knew that he could likely solve these costly injuries with one or more of Winter Wal[…]

I speak to our customers on a regular basis. One in particular has been buying our ice shoe cleats for years. Despite their purchase, they’ve still had a few slip and fall accidents on the ice and snow and are frustrated. After the accident investigations, they realized each incident had the same the root cause: None of the employees who fell were wearing the ice cleats and winter traction aids that were being provided.

I’ve found that there are two ways people tend to look at ice cleats. Ice cleats are a last resort. Ice cleats are part of the workplace safety gear solution. Let me ask you a question: Why are your employees using the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) they have today? Chances are, your company has a lot of PPE that are mandatory, not voluntary, as a condition of employment. What about safety glasses, hard hats, steel-toe boots, high-visibility clothing, fire-retardant apparel? You get my point. These items are mandatory at most workplaces, including yours. Why? Because your employees experi[…]