Commercial workplaces and industries have to follow a set of rules and procedures for the safety of their workers. In this regard, a safe and secure flooring surface is an essential interior component. By installing safety mats, you can protect your working places against possible mishaps, injuries, accidents, and associated risks.
Don’t know how to choose the best safety mat for your workspace? There’s no need to worry. In this post by Mats Dubai, we’re going to give you all-inclusive information to help you ideally purchase safety mats for your working place.
Your Complete Handbook For Choosing The Best Safety Mats
Normally, a 6 mm NBR rubber ribbed covering makes up the surface of safety mats. Before explaining all the essential parameters to help you with perfect safety mat purchases, let’s briefly describe safety mats.
What Are Safety Mats?
Safety mats are specialized floor mats designed to improve safety in the workplace. They are commonly used in areas where there is a risk of slips, trips, and falls, such as in industrial or commercial environments. Safety mats come in a variety of materials, sizes, and shapes to suit different applications and requirements.
Some safety mats are designed with pressure/weight sensors allowing them to be used as part of a safety system that stops machines or equipment when a worker is in danger. These types of mats are commonly used in automated machinery or robotics applications.
How Does A Safety Mat Work?
Safety mats can serve different purposes depending on their design and features. For example, anti-fatigue mats are designed to provide cushioning and support to employees who stand for long periods of time. In contrast, slip-resistant mats are designed to prevent slips and falls on wet or oily surfaces.
Other types of safety mats may be designed to provide electrical insulation or to be resistant to chemicals or fire. Also, they can be integrated with automated machinery to prevent accidents. For this purpose, pressure-sensitive mats are used that are controlled by an open switch.
When the minimal pressure/weight exceeds, the switch closes and terminates the function of the electrical equipment in relation. This way the likelihood of fatal accidents and major injuries is controlled. Thus, safety mats become a vital component of a safe and healthy workplace.
How To Ideally Buy A Safety Mat?
There are various different types of mats used for workspace safety purposes and you should stick to the following guidelines for perfect purchases.
1. Purpose Of Buying Safety Mat
You should decide in advance if you’re purchasing a mat for what type of safety-related reasons i.e. slip accidents, electrical hazards, etc. Are you looking for a mat to provide anti-fatigue support for employees who stand for long periods of time?
There are many questions of this sort to be answered prior to making a safety mat purchase. This lets you determine your workspace requirements and easily make an ideal safety mat purchase.
2. The Working Area
Commercial workplaces and industries have enormous interiors and have sectioned the working environment. Adding further, there are oily or wet areas susceptible to damage by slip and fall injuries.
On the other hand, some regions have heavy and dangerous electrical equipment and safety sensor mats are the ideal placements. Similarly, the areas with workers standing for long hours require anti-fatigue mats.
The working interior may be prone to spills and moisture, heavy foot traffic, or electrical interference. Therefore, you have to idealize the working environment and calculate the specific needs of different sections for the best safety mat purchases.
3. Certified Safety
First, you should avoid buying any local products when it comes to meeting ideal safety standards. There are various reasons to back up this thinking approach i.e. low quality, less durability, improper design, etc. The purchase must be from a popular flooring outlet.
Second, whatever type of safety mat you purchase (if in the USA), there must be product certification by the concerned regulatory authorities such as OSHA (The Occupational Safety And Health Administration) or ANSI (American National Standards Institute).
Similarly, all countries have government organizations working to test the safety standards of a certain product manufactured for commercial or industrial usage.
4. Choose The Mat Size & Thickness Carefully
If it is an anti-fatigue mat, it should be thick enough to support and cushion the workers. To determine the optimal proportions of the mat, you should obtain accurate area measurements of the workstation. Choose a safety mat that is large enough to cover the area where it will be used, and thick enough to provide comfort under feet.
5. The Cleaning Requirements
Mats placed in work units are to be cleaned more often because of the extensive foot traffic and high levels of accumulated dirt, dust, and grime. Therefore, you should keep in mind the cleaning and maintenance of safety mats.
For instance, if you’ve got the option to choose between smooth and rough-textured safety mats, it’s best to choose smooth, plain textured surfaces for ease of cleaning purposes.
6. Always Seek Warranties
Top-selling flooring companies claim their safety mats to be the best quality and therefore, offer warranties just in case. It’s a good approach to purchase safety mats that come with a warranty to cover up premature wear and tear damage. Also, the warranty limit comes in handy in case you’ve bought defective safety mats.
7. Define The Budget Limit
No one better knows about your financial expenditures than yourself. For a value-for-money purchase, it’s best that you don’t exceed the pre-defined budget limit. Safety mats come in different price ranges, so consider your budget when making a purchase.
However, keep in mind that cheaper mats are mostly low-quality products that may not provide adequate safety features or may not last as long as necessary.
The Takeaway!
Safety mats are designed to reduce the risk of slips, trips, and falls, which are common causes of workplace accidents and injuries. You can make perfect purchases for safety mats by considering the mat buying purpose, analyzing the workspace, mat cleaning requirements, and budget considerations. Always purchase safety mats from a supplier that offers a significant period of product warranty.
