How to Select Floor Mats For Your Business

Slips and falls are responsible for an estimated 20-30 percent of accidents that cause long-term interruptions of work in multiple businesses. To reduce the risk of slips and falls, businesses need effective, economical, and durable mats.

In addition to reducing the chance of accidents, ergonomic mats can be highly beneficial for standing workers who must remain on their feet throughout the workday. Additionally, floor matting can provide insulation and relief from cold or damp surfaces.

Anti-fatigue floor matting provides a cushioned surface that can relieve neck, leg, and lower back discomfort. It can also stimulate muscles in the legs and calves to improve circulation, reducing the pain and discomfort of standing for extended lengths of time.

Used as directed, floor mats, and other types of matting can provide increased productivity, comfort, and satisfaction among employees while reducing the number of potential injuries. Mats, runners, stair treads, and other products serve specialized functions in the following businesses.

Every year more than three million food service workers have slip-and-fall accidents, which can cost the food service industry more than $2 billion annually. Soil and grease build-up, particularly in food processing facilities, is the most common cause of these accidents.

Foodservice mats can prevent or reduce slips or falls on slick floors, which can protect against breakage of falling objects such as plates, glasses, or items made of other fragile materials. They can also elevate workers above cold, wet floors, which can lead to increased productivity and safety. Mats with anti-fatigue cushioning can promote blood flow by stimulating continuous micro-movements.

Mats can be extremely helpful to industrial employees required to stand in one spot for extended periods of time. Anti-fatigue floor mats provide cushioning to relieve neck, leg, and lower back discomfort while improving productivity and employee morale. This can lead to reduced absenteeism and fewer cases of chronic illness related to long-term standing.

Floor mats for industrial applications such as automotive and manufacturing include ergonomic anti-fatigue floor mats, anti-slip mats, static dissipative mats, and industrial runners.

From kindergartens to colleges, educational institutions need mats for multiple uses. Beginning at the school entrance, mats can prevent students and other people from tracking in dirt and debris. Floor mats can protect entrances and hallways while offering greater safety, reducing the likelihood of falls.

Installed properly, mats and carpet-like tiles can be used for wiping and scraping away mud, snow, and other debris, keeping it out of a clean building. Flooring can become damaged over time, but mats can protect floors and extend their life.

Absorbent matting products are designed to soak up water and other liquids to make hallways and school rooms less slippery, especially important in schools with very young children who are more likely to lose balance or play in careless ways. There’s a reason why teachers say “No running in the halls,” but absorbent mats can make the rooms safer.

Custom floor mats can provide messages such as school branding, safety warnings, directional signs, and logos to promote school spirit.

From hospitals to gyms, mats serve many uses in healthcare, which frequently require surfaces to be as clean as possible while promoting traction to prevent patients from injury. They’re also used to protect sensitive equipment in imaging procedures and dental offices. Medical laboratories, packing stations, shipping departments, as well as nursing homes, pharmacies, gyms, and physical therapy clinics all require specialized mats.

Floor mats for medical care offices include surgical anti-fatigue mats for long surgical procedures. Disposable surgical mats can help keep surgical or operating theaters sterile. Antimicrobial floor mats are designed with antimicrobial agents to kill or inhibit the growth of bacteria and fungus to keep rooms sterile.

Companies involved with electronics-based technology need mats for specialized purposes. Manufacturing and assembling electronic circuit boards and other electronic products requires static-free surfaces to prevent the damage caused by electrostatic discharges.

ESD (Electro Static Discharge) protective mats are formulated to drain static electricity from workers to safeguard against static shocks and protect equipment. Heavy-duty anti-fatigue matting systems can feature diamond-plate traction surfaces to cover individual workstations or large areas.

In addition, facilities housing large servers need “clean rooms” that maintain extremely low levels of dust, airborne organisms, or other particles. Specialized mats designed for dust control and other means can help keep the room free of contaminants to the appropriate cleanliness level. Sticky mats are designed to trap and keep out dust, particles, and other impurities based on the level of tack.