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.

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[…]

The Winter of 2017 - 2018 in the Northeast US was definitely one for the record books. With record breaking cold temperatures, frequent and massive snow falls, ice storms and the resulting school cancellations it seemed like it would never end. Although it still doesn't feel like it, according to the calendar, Spring has finally and officially arrived! Before you completely put this winter behind you I have a question for you. This question has the ability to help you get better employee buy-in when trying to prevent winter slip and falls in ice and snow.