Work Station Mats Evolve Into Ergonomic Flooring

The popularity of ergonomic workstation mats where standing people are performing the majority of their work within a relatively small area is undisputed.

Workstation mats have proven to generate a substantial rate of return not just in terms of financial benefits, but also in improved employee morale and productivity. The benefits of these ergonomic mats have been so convincing that many customers are now exploring how to achieve the same productivity and cost improvements across their entire facility, not just in areas where there are clearly defined workstations.

Ergonomic flooring is emerging as that solution. The main difference between workstation mats and ergonomic flooring is the ability to properly customize the product on-site.

“Customers have different expectations of a flooring product versus a matting product,” said Elliot Greenberg, CEO of Wearwell, a maker of anti-fatigue matting. “Flooring products need to cover larger areas with a highly customized fit against walls and equipment. It isn’t practical to pre-fabricate something so highly customized. Suppliers must provide a modular product that can quickly and easily be modified at the customers’ location to fit their unique layout.”

Another highly desirable characteristic of ergonomic flooring is the ability to reconfigure the product.

“We live in a constantly changing and ever more competitive world,” said Greenberg. “Customers demand the ability to change the layout of a work cell or assembly line area without having to reinvest a substantial amount of money in new flooring. Flooring products that can easily be disassembled and re-assembled to fit the changing needs of the customer are critical.”

At the same time, ergonomic flooring products have to stay put until the customer wants to make a change. “The days when customers were willing to use tape, adhesives, and zip ties to hold various pieces of matting together in a space are rapidly dwindling,” observed Greenberg. “These solutions create trip hazards, are visually atrocious and, worst of all, are largely ineffective at keeping pieces of matting together. Engineered connector systems are the only way to provide flooring products that go together the way you want, stay together in application, but can be disassembled and re-assembled on demand.”

Another advantage of being able to disassemble flooring relates to the 80-20 rule. “In application, we typically see that 80 percent of the wear and tear that occurs to a floor or mat happens over 20 percent of the area. The ability to simply pop out the area that needs to be replaced and quickly install new flooring components dramatically reduces replacement costs and downtime for the customer,” said Greenberg.

Three P’s

1. The different methods of installing ergonomic flooring can be broken down into “Three P’s.” The first is Permanent installation where the customer typically uses an adhesive of some sort to permanently connect pieces of flooring together and/or bond the pieces to the sub-floor leaving them difficult or impossible to later reconfigure.
2. The second P is Passive where the customer butts pieces of ergonomic flooring against each other and leaves it to gravity or a very loose fitting connector system to hold the pieces of flooring in place and usually results in regular maintenance to move the pieces back into place as they move around.
3. The third and most advantageous is Positive lock where the customer utilizes an engineered connector system integrated into the ergonomic flooring pieces to connect components and create a layout that stays put in day-to-day application but can be reconfigured, as changes are required.

Once installed, ergonomic flooring provides several benefits to customers. “First and foremost, ergonomic flooring provides an all-around safer work surface than concrete or cement floors alone,” added Greenberg. “Studies have proven that standing and walking on cement and concrete significantly increases the occurrence of muscular pain in the feet, legs and lower back, stiffness in the neck and shoulders, and varicose veins.”

Additionally, if a fall occurs, the probability of injury from falling on a hard surface like concrete or cement is substantial. Installation of the proper ergonomic flooring product reduces the stress on the body caused by standing or walking on harder surfaces. And, should a fall occur, landing on an ergonomic flooring surface mitigates the possibility of serious injury vs. cement or concrete.

Of course, strict functionality isn’t the only consideration when choosing a flooring product. Greenberg said, “Think about it. One of the most prominent features you see when walking through a facility is the flooring. The floor has to look great if you want to make a favorable impression with your facility.”

Availability of colors, the surface design of the flooring itself and inconspicuous seams where flooring pieces come together are all critical elements of an attractive and functional ergonomic flooring product. Said Greenberg, “Customers can save tens of thousands of dollars in floor maintenance simply by installing ergonomic flooring over the top of less attractive cement or concrete.”