7 Common Anti-Fatigue Mat Safety Hazards
The No. 1 cause of workplace injuries? Slipping, tripping, and falling. The national average for slip-and-fall settlements? Over $100,000. One way to keep your employees safe, reduce legal risks, and support productivity is by carefully examining the state of your anti-fatigue mats.??
Here are 7 common anti-fatigue mat safety hazards that can lead to slipping, tripping, and other employee health?issues.???
1. Missing Bevels
As mats age, it’s common for the edges to break apart. This can create a tripping hazard for your employees. Missing or curled bevels can also impact productivity if workers can't wheel carts and?other equipment onto the mats, or have to spend extra time making sure they don't trip rather than focusing on the tasks at hand.?
2. Dirty Mats Concealing Tripping Hazards?
Whether dust, dirt, chemicals, metal shavings or food products, particles that build up over time can significantly reduce the life expectancy of your anti-fatigue mats. Dirty mats age faster, are slippery, and can obscure potential?tripping hazards.?
3. Piecing Together Disconnected Mat Parts?
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), slips, trips, and falls are the second most common cause of injury in the workplace for manufacturing companies. Machine and contact-related injuries are the most common, which slipping and tripping can cause.?
Placing multiple mat pieces next to each?other to compensate for the need for a fully customized shape and designed-to-fit mat is yet another tripping hazard.?As shared in No. 6 below, this anti-fatigue mat safety hazard combined with others actually led to a broken wrist for a leading manufacturing company.?
4. Torn Mat Edges?
The rough edges on torn mats can cause tripping hazards for workers who need to frequently move to and from the mat.?Similar to above, this impacts productivity as workers are required to spend more time focusing on their steps.
5. Stacking Mats for Comfort?
One practice we often see when evaluating prospective client workplaces is the stacking of multiple, often older?mats to create the comfort of a high-quality anti-fatigue mat. Beyond the tripping hazard this causes, stacking mats can also cause ergonomic/posture issues – impacting a worker’s feet, back and neck.??
领英推荐
6. Incorrectly-sized Mats
Anti-fatigue mats that are too small or incorrectly sized for the area they’re used can lead to tripping hazards and increased employee fatigue if workers must regularly move on/off the mat.???
The Toro Company, a leading lawn maintenance and turf product company, shared that a worker?fell and broke their arm?(video) due to rectangular mats that were too small, different sizes and thicknesses, and stacked and pieced together. The inconsistencies and exposed cement flooring created a trip hazard in tight areas.
The safety specialist over this facility removed the disconnected and incorrectly sized mats, and partnered with AcroMat to design a custom anti-fatigue mat that wrapped around equipment and covered the entire area. The facility also standardized its mat approach to reduce risks and elevate safety throughout.
You can hear from a safety leader with Toro about the steps they took through the link above.
Here's a glimpse of where the incident took place:
7. Mats Long Past Their Useful Life?
The average anti-fatigue mat lasts between 1-3 years. Lower-quality mats last as little as 6-12 months. Premium anti-fatigue mats – like the?AcroMat 100-1 Series, 100-ESD Series and Premium NitriTuf?– have a life expectancy of up to 8 years with proper care and cleaning. Made from 100% nitrile rubber, they don't compress over time and maintain their anti-slip, anti-fatigue qualities over the entire lifespan.?
Old mats that are past their useful life break down and create the trip hazards explored above, among many other issues. It’s important to know the expected lifespan of your anti-fatigue mats and that they are performing the way you need them to. Our?Mat Inspection Checklist?offers a helpful tool to assess your mats.
Health, Safety and Recruitment/Retention?
Beyond employee health and safety, workplace hazards can dramatically impact recruitment and retention. It's no secret there is a labor shortage in manufacturing. There are currently 900,000 open roles, a number that is expected to increase to 2.1 million by 2030.
Set yourself apart from the competition by creating a workplace that prioritizes the health, safety, and productivity of your workforce.?
--
Design the custom anti-fatigue mat you need in minutes with?AcroSketch?– the only tool of its kind. Any length, shape, size, angles, or cutouts. Zero added costs for customization. Receive an immediate quote. Every order ships within 10 business days, and all orders over $100 ship for free.
Interested in learning more? Need a hand designing the right mat??Book a brief demo?with our team!?Let’s walk through it all together.