As a safety professional, you most likely hear your share of employee complaints. The one we hear about frequently is this: "My ice cleats fall off all the time." It’s true that ice cleats and other traction aids can be a little complicated. Sometimes you wear one size in a specific brand and a completely different size in another. It’s a fairly common occurrence in regular shoes. Well, ice cleats and snow traction for shoes are no different. With the many styles of traction devices available, sometimes getting the optimal fit seems impossible.

On my way into the city one day last year, the skies began to grow dark and by the time I pulled into the parking lot, the heavens had opened up and were dumping buckets of water all around me. From inside my car, I could see that some enterprising young fellow had opened up a makeshift umbrella sales stand on the corner. Not wanting to arrive to my appointment soaking wet, I parked my car, made a mad dash to his stand and gladly forked over the $20 for the small black umbrella.

As a safety manager, this is the time of year your attention turns to winter prep. Storms are right around the corner and reducing winter slips and falls is sure to be on your mind. So, have you started your search for the perfect ice cleat or traction aid? And if so, have you made your decision on whether to use replaceable or permanent spikes. If you’re still making that choice, here’s some info that may help. Replacing spikes in traction footwear is indeed a cost-saving option. It allows you to re-use existing footwear for just a few dollars a pair.

If you’ve tried to introduce a new piece of PPE to your workforce, you know how hard it is for humans to change their ways. I talk to a lot of safety managers to discuss ice cleats and traction aids for shoes and they all tell me some version of: “I know my guys. They’ll never bother to put them on.” But if you’re a safety professional who knows that wearing ice cleats will reduce the number of winter slip and fall injuries (and, in the process, increasing your company’s workers comp claims), then you owe it to your company, your work staff and yourself to find a way to introduce an ice tracti[…]

So let me ask you a rather blunt question: Why are your employees using the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) they are today? Chances are, your company has a lot of PPE footwear standards 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?

If math frightens you, don’t worry. I’ll try to make this as painless – and as helpful – as possible. As a safety professional concerned about your workplace safety record, you’re planning on buying traction aids for your employees. So, it is fair to consider whether the item you are purchasing is too expensive. While you would generally expect a company to spend whatever it takes to keep everyone as safe as possible, that might not always be the case. As a matter of fact, from a pure numbers standpoint, it might even make sense to let the accidents happen.