History
Early Years
An entrepreneur by birth, Quinn quickly saw potential in a new cleaning product that prevented slipping while mopping floors. He contacted the UK sales agent, recreated the product in-house and set up shop out of a minivan selling his anti-slip cleaning product, Floor Safe, by day to New Zealand customers, while continuing to clean offices at night. Business grew slowly due to workplace safety being in its infancy in the early- to mid-nineties and zero health and safety initiatives existing to create demand for anti-slip products.
Quinn’s honest sales pitch worked. But he noticed that in order to retain 90% of business leads to improve slippery staircases after his Floor Safe product dried from mopping tiles, he needed to expand his product offerings. Quinn began creating product solutions for his clients and soon morphed Floor Safe from being just an anti-slip cleaner into The Anti-Slip Floor Company, which offered product solutions to prevent slips and falls on stairs and pedestrian surfaces. He catered to domestic and commercial clients in New Zealand and never turned down an opportunity to upsell his growing customer base. His commitment to quality and friendly, honest and reliable business ethic allowed Quinn to build sales on word of mouth and a simple website. He expanded into a franchise model and rebranded as Safety Step. Christine, his wife, managed the books while he went out to secure new clients, including Pizza Hut and other corporate franchises in New Zealand. They eventually gained Frontera, the largest dairy processing plant in the country. Given the reliable, high quality, durable anti-slip products and Quinn’s honest, education-focused company sales pitch, the small family-run business cornered the market, securing 90%+ of anti-slip product sales.
Safety Step continued to secure its position at the forefront of the anti-slip industry in New Zealand when Quinn became an active member with the Standards Committee BD94 for 15 years, where he helped write, maintain and upgrade pedestrian anti-slip floor standards for New Zealand and Australia. He also offered independent expert consulting services on pedestrian anti-slip matters, often as part of disputes between parties.
Safety Step NZ moved early to purchase and operate authorized slip testing equipment and offered both on-site and in-lab slip testing and certification across all sectors. This assisted with Safety Step’s leadership in the industry. As government ISO obligations began to take precedence, Quinn gained more clientele.
In an effort to drive business sales, Quinn would offer complimentary reviews of businesses to highlight slipping hazards and workplace safety risks. At the time, the statistics of losing skilled labour to a preventable slipping accident was 40% and injury recovery would take a minimum of six months, costing companies a minimum of $115K loss of revenue in the 1990s. By identifying the top 15 areas of concern in any site, Quinn was able to shift a $2,000AUD
sale to $50K – $100K sale. More importantly, safety initiatives got implemented nationwide into numerous companies and lives were spared.
In 2005, as their market was expanding into the USA with sports stadium clients, including the Palace Arena in Detroit, Staples Center and various university sports stadiums, a clash emerged with his US clients having pre-existing relationships with government purchasing department, GSA, and New Zealand’s anti-nuclear policy. Quinn was forced to move his business to Australia where he could continue business with his profitable US clients.
Later Years
Safety Step International (SSI) was formed as a non-trading entity in 1993 out of Australia. It retains all of the IP and licenses manufacturing to the Australian company (TRAX) and to re-sellers internationally, including the oil and gas clients in Southeast Asia. During the financial collapse of 2008–2010, the company faced two very hard years. With the sale of the Safety Step client base in New Zealand and the emergence of a US-based company copycatting SSI anti-slip products, Quinn needed to corner the Australian market.
Enter James Quinn, Steve’s son. James Quinn was hired on as the COO in 2008 to oversee operations and research and development. A driven, hands-on problem-solver, James continues to thrive on finding innovative solutions for all of his customers. No job is too big or small for James to remedy. This attitude, coupled with a steadfast dedication to offering the best materials and sustainable design, has helped Safety Step International continue to remain a leading anti-slip product manufacturer in Australia and worldwide.
The Safety Step International brand continues to remain strong, despite two market collapses, in the southern hemisphere. Both SSI and Trax Australia continue to build a loyal and dedicated customer base through word of mouth and education-based sales of their durable, quality anti-slip products. Remarkably, Safety Step International has a zero advertising policy, relying only on a simple website, phone calls and a small group of international Sales Agents.
Through unique, durable and innovative anti-slip solutions, Safety Step International is the leader in the regional market, winning clients such as Virgin Airlines Australia and Jetstar (Quantas Airlines Ltd). The 2022 Houston conference further proved Safety Step International’s superior product in North America. With a new manufacturing base in North America, Safety Step International can easily become a global leader in anti-slip technology and dominate the market as the go-to brand.