All posts by Jordan Bell

Good question! Most PPE that you deal with as a safety professional has some sort of third-party anti-slip regulation that guides you in your decision making. Whether that standard comes from ANSI, OSHA or CSA, etc., there is typically some predetermined barometer for gauging whether the specific PPE you are considering has “passed the test.” This is true for everything from gloves and hard hats to steel toe boots and even indoor slip-resistant footwear. But when it comes to ice cleats and traction aids, there are NO STANDARDS. Why is that?

It is far and away the most common complaint we hear: “My workers hate having to take their ice cleats off and on throughout the day.” This complaint becomes even more frequent from companies where the workers need to walk outside and back multiple times throughout the day. And on one level we can’t really blame them. Winter slips and falls on ice and snow are a huge contributor to workplace accident statistics, and ice cleats seem like an obvious remedy to this problem. However, there are two factors that complicate this issue:  Most people don’t have jobs that require them to work exclusivel[…]

How long should an ice cleat last? This is the most common question I get from safety professionals. It’s a fair question to ask and one you should have an understanding of before you purchase ice cleats. And when someone asks me that question, what I’m hearing is, “How many of these things am I going to buy to get through the winter?” Some ice cleats for shoes are built for recreational purposes, like walking the dog and shoveling the driveway, while others are built for utility workers, letter carriers and construction workers. If you use the wrong ice cleat for the wrong job task, you will […]

From time to time, we like to revisit some of our most popular blog entries. If safety professionals are looking for specific information, we’re always happy to provide it. And one of our most popular topics focused on the lack of regulations when it comes to ice cleats. In my original article, “Why Are There No Regulations Around Ice Cleats?” I wrote that the main reason for a lack of industry standards or regulations around ice cleats is the number of variables in recreating an outdoor slippery surface. But I don’t think that my post was popular because people wanted to hear why these regula[…]

It’s a question we’ve heard more than a few times. How do we answer it? Look at it this way: If you typed the phrase “ice cleats” into Google back in 2010, the search engine would give back around 418,000 results. Trust us on this number: it’s our job to run that specific search. Try the same search today, and you’ll get back more than 10 million results. What does this number tell us?

If you’re a safety professional , I have an important question for you "What is your biggest safety sin or workplace hazard?" Before I tell you mine, I’ll give you some background. Winter Walking is North America’s largest manufacturer of traction aid ice cleats. We help hundreds of companies and thousands of employees reduce the chance of suffering a slip and fall injury while on the job. We take tremendous pride in our product line, our company and our task. So imagine how embarrassed I would be if I personally suffered a slip and fall injury on ice or snow? Embarrassed is an understatement […]