Rubber is a highly resilient flooring option, especially when it comes to residential and commercial applications. But did you know that it’s also well suited as the material for industrial floor coverings?
What are Industrial Mats?
Industrial mats are flooring options that are designed to enhance floor quality in industrial settings. Typically, this means durability, shock-absorption, slip-resistance, water-resistance, and anti-fatiguing properties. The same tough and resilient qualities that make a rubberized surface such a great choice for basements, home gyms, and many other applications are also applicable to factories, high foot-traffic locations, and other areas that require all the protective benefits offered by a material as strong as rubber. Now that you know what are industrial mats, check out how industrial mats can be applied to nearly any work environment. The following is our A-to-Z list of places that benefit greatly from its installation:
A. Industrial Matting in Agriculture
Once fruits and vegetables have been picked, they have to be washed and packaged. Corrugated flooring, such as diamond-plate mat and raised-coin flooring options, offers excellent slip-resistance.
B. Industrial Matting in a Bakery
Like in any other food preparation business, such as coffee and sandwich shops, employees in bakeries will likely spend a lot of time on their feet. Rubber work mats aren’t just tough—they offer a supple surface to stand on that naturally combats fatigue.
C. Industrial Matting at a Car Wash
Whether it’s a professional or do-it-yourself car wash, rubber, workshop floor mats naturally enhance traction while also being slip-resistant. Car washes are oftentimes slippery from all the excess moisture, so rubber industrial flooring will help keep employees and customers safe from slip-and-fall accidents.
D. Industrial Matting at the Dentist's Office
When your dentist is coming at you with a drill in one hand and a syringe in the other, you definitely want your dentist to have secure footing! Plus, dentist offices often deal with excess liquid, increasing the risk of a slip-and-fall accident occurring. Rubber surfacing, while already having a high coefficient of friction, often comes with richly textured surfaces. With flooring like industrial anti-fatigue mats in place, dentists and dental assistants will be kept more firmly on their feet.
E. Industrial Matting in Educational Facilities
Though they may not seem like places that need industrial mats—the hallways of Elementary, Middle, and High School, are regularly subjected to many conditions that necessitate the use of industrial, rubber flooring. Think about it—all that heavy foot-traffic, all that food and water being thrown around—and you get the idea: There’s good reason for why educational environments are primary candidates for the installation of an industrial rubber floor.
F. Industrial Matting in the Fishing Industry
Whether on a fishing boat or in a processing center, the fishing industry can greatly benefit from the slip-resistant qualities of corrugated flooring. Many rubber products are specially made to withstand constant exposure to sunlight and withstand excessive moisture, which are the sort of conditions that fishing facilities typically inhabit.
G. Industrial Matting in Grocery Stores
Keep checkout clerks comfortable with rubber, work floor mats. The elastic nature of the mats’ rubber will support feet, ankles, and legs through long work shifts wherein clerks are standing all day. It’s a way of showing appreciation for your checkout clerks that reflects how caring of a person you are.
H. Industrial Matting in Hair Salons & Day Spas
Hair salons and day spas are always working with a lot of water. With rubber’s natural resistance to water, industrial flooring made of rubber is the business owner’s best bet since it makes their floors so easy to clean. For one thing, maintaining a clean, professional appearance is important. But for another, it’s just nice to know you’re keeping your subflooring free from the harmful effects of overexposure to moisture. Corrugated floor protection has a multitude of uses in places like hair salons and day spas.
I. Industrial Matting in Ice Skating Rinks
There are many reasons for why industrial flooring solutions like rubber workshop flooring are widely employed in ice-skating rinks. The ice from the rink is often dragged into the sidelines, creating slip-and-fall hazards and potentially damaging your subflooring. Plus, ice skates are hard, as well as delicate. Having patrons walking around on a flooring like concrete with ice skates on, in the long term, will probably ruin your flooring and damage their equipment. Rubber, industrial floor tiles are a highly profitable investment in ice skating rinks.
J. Industrial Matting for Janitorial Services
Along with placing those bright-yellow wet-floor signs, janitors can also employ rubber work mats atop floors that often get wet. Naturally resistant to water, industrial matting, such as rubber, diamond-plate matting and coin-grip flooring, are excellent options for further ensuring the safety of your guests and employees. These mats are also available in the form of a corrugated rubber runner, a product which can be custom cut in seamless lengths of up to 50 feet.
K. Industrial Matting in Kennels (Animal Housing)
Places that work with animals—such as animal shelters—often home these creatures in kennels. Because animals tend to be messy, kennels become dirty quickly. Furthermore, hard flooring can really hurt animals’ paws. Rubber, industrial floor coverings are an excellent options for kennels because of how easy to clean they are and because of their natural anti-fatiguing properties.
L. Industrial Matting in Long-Term Care Facilities
Some of the people most at risk for severe injury from slipping and falling are the elderly. Long-term care facilities can greatly reduce the risk of a slip-and-fall accident by installing ribbed rubber flooring over its floors, leveraging the benefits of rubber’s natural traction-enhancing properties.
M. Industrial Matting for Manufacturers
Manufacturing is inseparable from the proper functioning of modern society. As a result, many people work within manufacturing industries. They play an important role in our lifestyles, so it’s important that employers make sure they stay comfortable and healthy, especially since they stand on their feet all day. Rubber, studded tiles are just one of the many options available to the caring employer—boosting the comfortability and, therefore, morale of your workforce is not a trivial benefit. Manufacturers stand to gain a lot by considering rubber work mats for their employees’ workstations.
N. Industrial Matting in a Nursery (Garden Center, Farm Supply Store)
Corrugated flooring is great for scraping debris and moisture off the bottoms of shoes. Because nurseries are always working with dirt and water, textured tile flooring makes a lot of sense for keeping them cleaner. In addition, rubber, industrial flooring—like rubber shop-mats—is much easier to clean than other types of flooring. In nurseries, these benefits are invaluable.
O. Industrial Matting in Offices
From corporate headquarters to smaller business buildings, industrial mats can be used to achieve a professional and polished look—all while keeping office workers comfortable.
P. Industrial Matting in Physical Fitness Clubs (Gyms)
It’s rare for a fitness club to own the building where it’s located. More often than not, the club leases its building, which means that protecting the building’s subflooring from damage is especially important. Expensive repairs are likely avoidable if the club opts for industrial floor coverings throughout its gym. Rubber products afford subfloors valuable protection from the operations of heavy exercise equipment.
Q. Industrial Matting in Quality-Supervision Services
Maintaining quality of products and services is an important aspect of any business. Keep your quality supervisors comfortable with rubber work mats, so that they can focus on the task at hand.
R. Industrial Matting in Restaurants
The food service industry is fast-paced and oftentimes chaotic. The benefits of rubber, industrial mats perfectly fit restaurant conditions. Think about slip-resistance, ease of cleaning, and anti-fatiguing properties—just to name a few.
S. Industrial Matting in Sporting Arenas
When it comes to sports, keeping fans safe is just as important as good sportsmanship. Using slip-resistant treads on stairs or rubber, diamond-plate flooring on concrete are great ways of keeping fans comfortable on their feet and safe from slips and falls.
T. Industrial Matting in the Transportation Industry
Vans, buses, and airplanes are just some examples of modern transportation—a cornerstone of our modern lifestyles. But, these vehicles tend to get dirty. Because rubber products are so easy to clean, rubber utility mats and other industrial floor mats are useful additions to any vehicle’s interior.
U. Industrial Matting for Utility Services
From the buildings that generate and manage utility services to the company vans that zoom to and fro, carrying out their jobs—rubber, workshop floor mats are ideal for protecting subflooring, as well as protecting the interiors of company vehicles from heavy equipment-loads.
V. Industrial Matting in the Veterinary Office
If you have a pet then you know how difficult it is for them to walk on polished surfaces like hardwood, tile, and linoleum. Rubber corrugated flooring is a great way to give pets traction as they run around. Thus, places like veterinary offices benefit greatly from the installation of rubber, industrial tile flooring, enhancing the comfort of their clients’ pets.
W. Industrial Matting in Warehouses
Like many other industrial locations, warehouses are often floored using concrete. While concrete is a robust material in its own right, it still has pitfalls. For instance, chipping, scratching, and cracking are common occurrences wherein the concrete becomes irreversibly damaged. Industrial flooring, however, introduces a layer of protection between the concrete and the heavy equipment it carries, helping you avoid the expensive fees associated with concrete repair or replacement.
X. Industrial Matting for an X-Ray Technician
X-ray technicians often spend much of their shifts standing—whether it be fitting patients into X-ray scanners or analyzing X-ray results. Therefore, employing workshop floor mats can help X-ray technicians (and many other healthcare providers, for the matter) perform their job comfortably by offering a supportive and slip-resistant surface to stand on.
Y. Industrial Matting in Yoga Studios
Typically, yoga studios will have hardwood floors and will require students to bring in supple mats upon which to exercise. While this is a standard practice, outstanding studios often have industrial floor coverings installed over their floors, offering the same benefits that yoga mats provide without requiring their clients to bring in their personal equipment. Furthermore, heat and sweat can make these studios wet and humid—conditions that can damage many types of subflooring. Thus, industrial flooring tiles are an all-around positive for places like yoga studios.
Z. Industrial Matting in Zoos
Rubber work mats or any other type of industrial rubber floor are naturally water resistant. This means that they inhibit the growth of mold, mildew, and can help to stifle the promulgation of bacteria. Zoos benefit greatly from this property because zoos are rife with excess moisture, and it’s important—for the sake of their animals—that the exhibits stay clean. Plus, an animal’s paws are easily hurt by hard floors like concrete, so having industrial mats installed in their exhibits benefits your animals and potentially saves you expensive medical bills.
What is Anti-Fatigue Matting?
Anti-fatigue matting is matting that’s designed such that a worker won’t become fatigued when standing on it for prolonged periods of time. Anti-fatigue matting is a name often used synonymously with industrial mats because industrial mats are typically expected to have anti-fatiguing properties. So, what is anti-fatigue matting? It’s a flooring option that helps combat fatigue.
Is an Anti-Fatigue Mat Worth It?
An anti-fatigue mat is certainly worth it. Fatigue strains the body and destroys productivity, so combatting fatigue with an anti-fatigue mat is a worthwhile decision. Given anti-fatigue matting’s many applications, some aspect of your personal life or business place can benefit from the use of rubber industrial matting. What’s more, our list doesn’t completely cover all the places that rubber mats are useful—that list would be way too long. All in all, a versatile flooring option that fits most situations is an anti-fatigue mat. Worth it, that’s for sure.
