In today’s article, our editorial staff examines 2 popular products for facilities looking to improve safety and facility cleanliness: Walk off mats, and recessed mat grill systems. Below, readers are invited to answer our questionnaire to determine which mat is best for their business location.
Walk-off mats are generally made using some combination of 4 different materials: Carpet, rubber, vinyl, and polypropylene. The most popular kinds of walk-off mats feature a surface made of deeply textured carpet and are backed with anti-skid Nitrile rubber. While the rubber backing holds these mats in place, the carpet surface wipes dirt and moisture from shoe bottoms as visitors pass through the entryway. This class of walk-off mat is typically used inside, although polypropylene walk-off mats are becoming increasing popular for outdoor applications.
In certain situations, basic walk-off mats may fall short of maintaining safety in the workplace. A few critical factors must be examined to determine which type of safety mat will perform best in any given facility. By considering things like visitor flow, weather, and accident history, businesses can choose a mat that will improve safety while keeping costs at minimum.
Which Mat Does Your Facility Need?
To find your ideal safety matting solution, print this page and read the questions below. For each question, circle the answer that most appropriately represents the environment, visitors, and/or special needs of your business. Answer questions according to how much you strongly disagree (SD), disagree (D), agree (A), or strongly agree (SA) with each statement.
1. Our location experiences a steady degree of visitors each hour.
SD D A SA
2. Daily visitor flow for our location can be classified as ‘moderate’ to ‘heavy.’
SD D A SA
3. Our business facility is located in a region that experiences heavy seasonal rainfall.
SD D A SA
4. Our business facility is located in a region that experiences heavy snow and ice accumulation in the winter.
SD D A SA
5. Our facility has a history of slip-and-fall accidents (or close-calls).
SD D A SA
6. On occasion, maintenance teams have found mold or mildew accumulation along the baseboard, tile, and floor spaces by major points of entry.
SD D A SA
7. Visitors have reported dangerous conditions to our staff, receptionists, or maintenance team.
SD D A SA
8. Our managers/ risk managers/ maintenance teams have expressed concern over the current condition of entryway floors.
SD D A SA
Tally the Results
After completing this brief questionnaire, tally your responses by assigning the following numerical values to each answer (you will have 8 total):
SD=0
D=1
A=2
SA=3
Next, add all 8 numbers together to arrive at your final, cumulative score. Using that score, follow the recommendations below:
0-7: Light-to-Moderate Traffic, Temperate Weather
Scoring between a 0 and 7 on the test above indicates that your business experiences light-to-moderate traffic and is most likely located in a region of temperate weather. For these variables, walk-off entrance mats are likely to provide the debris and moisture control needed to keep things neat, safe, and professional in appearance.
8-14: Moderate Traffic, Seasonal Weather Swings
Scoring between 8 and 14 on the test above indicates that your facility safety needs might not be met with walk-off mats alone. More frequent visitor flow combined with seasonal weather swings could leave interior walk-off mats saturated, dis-shelved, and dangerous to guests.
To accommodate this middle-of-the-road scenario, it is recommended that rubber scraper mats be placed outside all major points of entry to aggressively squeegee moisture and debris from visitors’ shoes. Walk-off mats are to be placed just inside the entryway to provide traction, floor coverage, and additional moisture control.
14-24: Moderate-to-Heavy Traffic, Severe Weather Likely
Scoring between 14 and 24 on the questionnaire above indicates that you “strongly agree” with a majority of the statements above, each of which has been crafted to describe dangerous scenarios for which extensive accident prevention is needed. Recessed grill mat systems like the Pedimat®, Peditred®, and Pedigrid® are highly recommended. In field tests and case studies, these industrial-strength recessed grill mats have demonstrated the ability to trap upwards of 60% of all incoming debris and moisture. Contaminants fall below the grill mat surface, where they are contained in a recessed compartment until later removed.
Floor Mat Consultation
For additional information, including product specifications and additional consultation, please contact Eagle Mat online or call toll free 1-877-333-1018.
