A thriving, bustling office is filled with a remarkable number of hidden dangers and hazards that can cause accidents and long-term health problems.
This is part of the reason why we supply specialist mats to help prevent accidents and encourage healthy workplaces built around the needs of the people who work there.
One of the most interesting examples of this is chair matting, which not only helps to save money but can make a remarkable contribution to your employees’ long-term personal health.
What are chair mats? What are they designed to solve? And how effective are they at preventing accidents?
What Is A Chair Mat?
A chair mat is a sturdy, hard-wearing mat typically made of a material such as rubber or vinyl that is placed under and around an office desk, between the carpet surface and an office chair.
They are designed to allow chairs to roll smoothly and comfortably on them whilst remaining firmly in place, typically using either small grip claws or rubber shoes, depending on the floor it is placed under.
Exactly which is best will depend on your existing floor surface and how busy your office tends to be.
What Is A Chair Mat Used For?
Wheeled chairs are an essential ergonomic tool used in the office, which help employees reach anything on their desk easily and encourage posture, stability and balance through the many ways in which they can be adjusted.
However, one of the consequences of a reliance on wheeled chairs is that the very thin castors typically used with office chairs create grooves, wear and tear on carpeted surfaces as they dig in.
Over time, and combined with other forms of heavy office traffic, this can cause wear and tear, creating weaknesses in the carpet, bumps, rolls and buckling tiles.
This is not only a question of aesthetics and cost, as worn carpet can sometimes be expensive to replace, but it can also become a safety concern that has led to criminal charges in the past.
All of these different forms of carpet damage caused by rolling office chairs can become potential trip and slip hazards that are very difficult to spot. Unlike a trailing wire or a loose piece of paper, a safe piece of worn carpet often looks the same as a dangerous one.
As well as this, it is not just one office chair and one localised part of your carpet, but it can occur at varying levels throughout your office where rolling chairs are used.
A chair mat mitigates this by providing a hard-wearing surface for the chair to roll on safely, where it will cause no significant damage.
How Else Can Chair Mats Improve Office Safety?
- Better Posture – The slightly higher position and much easier movement whilst on the mat can help avoid strains and pain, improving your posture throughout the working day.
- Less Leg And Back Strain – As a lot of the pain of using an office chair comes from the struggles of moving it around, the more streamlined movement enabled by a chair mat helps to prevent physical stress.
- Reduce Castor Wear – Castors can become unbalanced or even break off through wear, which can cause the chair to fall over and potentially cause serious injuries. A chair mat maintains these chairs for longer.