Have you ever purchased ice cleats in the past and regretted the choice? Why? Perhaps you had a slip and fall incident and made a “reactive” decision that resulted in buying the cheapest thing you could find online or at your local big box retailer? Perhaps you then heard nothing but complaints from your people: “I can’t wear these indoors.” “My ice cleat broke.” “My cleats keep falling off.”

Did you know that every winter slip and fall your employees had could have been prevented? Here’s how: Don’t allow your employees to walk or work outdoors in the winter months when ice and snow are present. For most of you, that’s impossible, so what’s the real solution? Employees need well-fitted and appropriate winter traction aids to help keep them safe and productive while walking and working outdoors in winter. And let’s face it, your safety record will boil down to how seriously you take the threat of snow and ice.

I was speaking with a senior safety coordinator for a large Canadian company recently. This winter has been bone chillingly cold in a lot of places in North America and it seems like winter will not end anytime soon, thanks Polar Vortex! Because of the brutal duration of this winter, this particular person was not in the mood to discuss the use of an ice cleat or other winter traction aids. He admitted that he is he’s sick of hearing about ice cleats and having to “deal” with them all the time. Does this sound familiar to you?

Have you heard this from your employees? This is a common cry from employees especially in the more Northern climates where nasty winter weather is normal. Many of these people have been dealing with snowy and icy winters their whole life and telling them now that they need to wear ice heel cleats while on the job can be a bit like telling your kids that they have to wear their mittens....they will resist at all cost. Do your employees walk safely on ice and snow and is it reasonable to accept this as a reason not provide and insist that they wear ice cleats or other forms of Winter Walking tr[…]

I got a late start into work the other day. I grabbed a travel mug and took my coffee to go. When stopped at a red light I reached for the mug and noticed the logo of a large U.S. utility and I smiled. They've been a customer of mine buying a variety of our ice cleats and other winter traction aids for over 13 years! They invited me last year to a corporate safety meeting to speak about their slip and fall prevention program and gave me this mug.

Recently I had a conversation with someone that left me confused. This particular customer 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 Walking’s ice traction cleats. I gave him all the information that he needed an[…]