Ways The Right Floor Mats Can Help Reduce Workplace Injures
What You Need to Know
A floor matting system can help to lessen the risk of dangerous or fatal slips, trips, and falls. In wet work conditions, such as facilities with regular oil spills or overspray, mating can also provide drainage and dry work surfaces. Anti-fatigue floor mats can help lessen the impacts of prolonged standing, as well as absenteeism and productivity. High-visibility floor mats can be used to indicate safe work zones or to draw attention to locations where extra caution is required. Employees can be electrocuted, and delicate equipment can be damaged by electrostatic discharges, thanks to specially engineered mats.
When it comes to increasing a manufacturing facility's safety and productivity, matting can be a big help. However, having a good matting system entails more than just strewing floor mats about the office. Because many places have specific matting requirements, such as better visibility or drainage in spill-prone areas, this is the case. These various requirements necessitate mats made of various materials and textures.
How can matting assist in meeting that criterion while also improving a facility's safety and productivity? Here are a few key examples:
1. The Right Matting Provides a Safer Walking Surface on Slippery Areas
In 2016, there were 849 fatal work injuries and 229,240 nonfatal injuries from slips, trips or falls, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In manufacturing, 19 percent of lost workdays that year were the result of falls, slips or trips.
The National Safety Council’s “2017 Injury Facts” shows that slips, falls and trips accounted for 27 percent of days away from work, second only to overexertion and bodily reaction. In addition, the cost of injuries from slips, falls and trips averages more than $45,000 per workers’ compensation claim.
Mats are one way to manage slip-and-fall risks.
2. The Right Matting Can Help Drain Spill-Prone Areas
Wet work areas can contribute to slips and falls, and things get even trickier when oily substances or lubricants are involved. While some mats just improve traction, others can help drain water or other slip-making materials.
Mats for wet areas are designed not to be absorbent, but to allow fluids to move through them. Drainage holes in the mat are so the fluid washes through the mat to the floor underneath, so it doesn’t lay on the surface and be slippery for people. The mats need to be picked up periodically so the area can be cleaned.
3. The Right Matting Improve Productivity
Mats do more than provide a nonslip surface: They can also reduce the number of days away from work for employees who spend a lot of time on their feet.
When you work on concrete day in and day out, it has a deteriorating effect on the muscles, primarily in your legs and your lower back. Standing on a hard surface can lead to leg pain, back pain and varicose veins, among other issues. The problems don’t happen suddenly, but accumulate over time. And once employees are suffering, they start calling in, unable to work.
Anti-fatigue mats, typically made with a layer of sponge, help reduce the stress of prolonged standing.
Just remember, the right mat in the right place can improve the safety of your workers and even impact your bottom line.
