Believe me, I’ve heard them all. But there are a few common excuses why safety professionals might avoid buying ice cleats. Here are the top six: They’re too expensive. My employees won’t wear them. Can’t wear them indoors. Can’t drive with them on. Employees won’t take care of them. We've tried everything and nothing works in our environment.

Do any of these scenarios sound familiar? After a slip and fall incident, you purchased ice cleats but regretted the choice. You felt “rushed” into the decision and didn’t have the time to research properly. You purchased ice cleats at a big-box retailed, but your employees complained they couldn’t wear them indoors…or the cleats keep falling off…or they broke…or they take too long to put on.

It may still be warm, but you know as well as we do, winter is right around the corner. And for safety professionals who care about their company’s safety record, the next 60 days are critical to your employees’ safety. If you plan on buying ice cleats or other winter traction aids for your employees to prevent slips and falls on ice and snow, ask yourself:

The calendar says it's September and I’m sure the last thing on your mind is winter slips and falls on ice and snow, right? But I wanted to share a quick story with you about one of the largest employers in the country. I’ve spoken with them for several years now trying to help them reduce their winter slip and fall incidents. As time passed, this company realized a critical flaw in their decision-making process –– they only had a concern for winter slips and fallsduring the winter months. They were always “reacting” and, therefore, never got the accident reduction they needed.

If you are reading this blog, you are most likely a safety professional of some sort. That being the case, I ask you: What is your biggest safety sin or workplace hazard? To put it in perspective, I’ll tell you mine. But let me first 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 can you imagine how embarrassed I would be if I perso[…]

Last winter, I wrote a blog post entitled, “Why Are There No Regulations Around Ice Cleats?” It turned out to be one of my most popular blog entries, so I figured it was time to revisit the topic. In the original post, 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 outdoorslippery surface. But I don’t think that my post was popular because people wanted to hear why these regulations don’t exist. Instead, what safety professionals really want to know is what can they do in light of the lack of regulation[…]