Dear #dirtylaundryexpert,
My employees are asking for a better mat at their workstations. Something about better back support. What are my options?
Sincerely,
“Pain in the Neck”
Dear “Pain in the Neck,”
It seems that you already understand the many benefits of a mat program, including:
· Reduce injuries from the #1 cause of slips, trips, and falls
· Cleaner, nicer, flatter laundered mats
· Custom logos
· Reduce floor repair and replacement costs
· Extend life of flooring
Kudus to your employees for enlisting you in getting more value from your mat provider.
Hopefully, your route rep is talking to you about this stuff.
Here are 3 recommendations for what are called “lease and leave” mats. These stay on your property and are only replaced upon your request. Paying your service provider a few dollars per week for these is a great way to avoid expensive purchase and replacement cost.
1. Use comfort / anti-fatigue mats wherever employees are standing in one place, like a service counter, bar, register, workstation, hostess station, or front desk .
Good news and bad news here. The good news is that the employees who put you up to this will definitely feel like you might actually care about them, because these mats are a game changer! The bad news is they will wonder what took you so long.
2. Use anti-microbial mats anywhere there is typically liquid on the floor, such as a kitchen, processing floor, service bay, or wash bay.
These are designed with holes that allow liquid to run underneath to your floor drain, while your employees have a less slippery surface and dryer feet. They simply hose these down for a compliance-approved clean work environment to start the next shift.
3. Use scrapper mats outside the building doors. (It’s pronounced scraper, but universally spelled wrong. The leading theory is that the first person misspelled it, and now that’s just how it is).
This gives your team a good surface to scrape mud and snow off their feet before tracking all over your floor, creating dirty accident hazards.
But wait… there’s MORE!
Ask about sink mats and urinal mats, which are changed out every week from the area directly below your sinks and urinals. These mats absorb and hold all the gross stuff that would normally just sit on your bathroom floor all day.
These are usually the least expensive part of your mat program, but are sometimes that most impactful, especially if you are trying to demonstrate employee and/or customer appreciation.
And finally….. Why not upgrade your existing mats?
Ask about heavier weight mats, custom logo mats, or message mats (safety, coffee, etc.) if you are interested in that type of thing.
Just be careful. Some providers will have you sign off on updating your whole program for another term without you knowing.
And there you have it.
Don’t you think my mom would be proud of me for knowing so much about floor mats?
I’m Jay Rasmussen. And this is My Dirty Laundry.
*Jay is the Vice President of Sales at Balfurd Linen & Uniform Service and is the “Dirty Laundry Expert.” Contact him at Jay@balfurd.com.
