Winter weather makes any kind of travel difficult; whether you’re driving or walking, you know that frozen or freezing precipitation leads to less traction for wheels and feet to grip on.
Slippery travel conditions during the winter are a huge concern on the highways. As the calendar flips to November and December, company vehicles switch over to winter tires to help protect their greatest investment, their employees. Sneakers or boots worn while working during the warmer months are similarly replaced by winter weather footwear for safety reasons. But what if there was a way to help you safe during the winter by eliminating the risk of slips and falls without trading in your footwear? That is exactly the goal that the company “Winter Walking”, based out of Horsham, Pa., has in mind with their innovative products.
Winter Walking is North America’s largest manufacturer of traction aids. Their products are used exclusively in industrial environments, help preventing slip and fall accidents while on the job. Protecting employees has the obvious benefits of keeping them on the job, fostering a healthy and happy work environment and bringing down or eliminating replacement hiring, additional employee training as well as workers’ compensation claims and medical costs.
Much like adding chains to your tires, Winter Walking gear goes right over your existing shoes. Products include spikes, heel grips, grips that go over the entire length of your sole, and special socks that go over your entire footwear. Different designs and products are designed specifically for walking on ice, others give better traction on a combination of snow and ice and some devices help keep you safe on oily or greasy floors.
Companies such as Delta and Shell use these products to help keep their employees safe. Being in business for over 40 years, Winter Walking serves a full range of Fortune 1000 companies. Winter Walking is able to produce an affordable yet effective product with the end result of eliminating workplace accidents due to snowy or icy surfaces. Made from a space-age polymer, some of their products are designed to be water proof and all of them are made to last. Some designs are made to feel like you are not wearing a safety product while others have a high visibility sole to ensure compliance with any safety laws.
We tried out three products: the High-Pro Ice Cleat, the Low-Pro Ice Cleat, and the Spare Spike. The purpose of the High-Pro Ice Cleat is to provide aggressive traction through 13 permanent tungsten carbide studs per foot and is to be used on ice only. In a recent freezing rain event, we found this product to be effective at helping us safely from one location to another while running some errands. Unlike the High-Pro, the Low-Pro Ice Clear design was made with indoor use in mind. It features a unique “low-profile” tungsten carbide studs which is a less aggressive ice gripper and allows for safe usage while operating an automobile. We found this device valuable in the same recent ice storm, giving us the freedom of wearing the device while driving a vehicle during an errand run. The Spare Spike is a lightweight stretch device with replaceable tungsten carbide studs; it earns its name because it includes a “spare spike” stored in the toe of each foot to provide for extra traction. This design is super easy to take on and off and gives you complete peace of mind that you will be safe while working. We found the products to be of sturdy quality and delivered on their promise of providing a safer walking experience on slick surfaces.
“We are a second generation family business that has not only been in business for over 40 years, but we continue to grow and expand our product line ever year,” says Jordan Bell, an Executive Vice President with Winter Walking. The recent weather pattern and ongoing ice threats have been challenging to those traveling through it, but not so challenging for Winter Walking to deliver product. Bell adds, “There is always in increase in orders and shipments during these types of weather patterns. We pride ourselves on being available to meet our customer’s demands in real time. If a snow storm hits and a utility needs more ice cleats to deal with down power lines they cannot afford to wait until three or four days after the storm for us to fill their order.”
When the snow and ice threats pass as temperatures warm in spring, Winter Walking doesn’t go into hibernation. “We are a year round business despite the reality that we focus exclusively on winter slips and falls. Our spring and summer are spent speaking with our customers to make sure we are meeting their needs as well as improving and expanding our product line to ensure that we have the best traction aid possible for every type of outdoor winter worker.”
You can learn more about Winter Walking here: http://www.winterwalking.com/
You can learn more about why sometimes freezing rain falls and ice accumulates rather than snow in the winter through our article here: https://weatherboy.com/wintry-precipitation-snow-not/
