All posts by Bill Coyne

Now, when the word "winter" is mentioned, safety professionals immediately feel a shift in the atmosphere. They know that their job has become even more challenging - finding the most effective and safest ways to protect their employees who work in icy and snowy conditions. So let me ask you a few questions: Are you tired of endlessly searching online, attempting to determine which ice cleat or traction aid is the best option? Are you frustrated with purchasing a recommended traction aid, only to discover that your employees despise wearing them?

If you’re willing to pay a high premium for shipping overnight, you can get just about anything you want, when you want it. Now is the time of year when “just ship it overnight” quickly becomes the most often heard statement I hear. Of course you can have ice cleats or traction aids shipped overnight, right? Well, the answer is both yes and no. In some cases, your order will be delivered on time and it won’t reflect any delayed decision-making. However, what happens to your employees and your safety record when after paying for shipping overnight, the delivery fails to be delivered the next da[…]

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.

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.