Anti Fatigue Matting

Anti-fatigue Matting

1. Anti-fatigue, how does it work?

How an anti-fatigue mat works is best described in an article of “Occupational Health & Safety”, written by James M. Kendrick: “Anti fatigue mats are engineered to make the body naturally and imperceptibly sway, which encourages subtle movement by calf and leg muscles. Ths promotes blood flow and keeps it from stagnating in the veins, which causes workers to feel fatigued”.

Studies carried out at the Centre for Ergonomics, University, make observation of the difference between standing on hard floors versus standing on soft floors. Both studies conclude that mats significantly affect fatigue and comfort in different body regions.

Standing on hard surfaces for long periods can lead to several problems. First, standing causes muscles to constrict, which reduces the blood flow. This makes muscles and joints hurt, and it causes blood to stagnate. in addition, long-term standing causes pronation, or excessive flattening of the foot. While this can be simply tiring and a bit painful, it can also lead to plantar fascities and other serious foot conditions. Lower back pain is highest in workers who stand 4 hours or more per day.

As described by Mr. Kendrick, the cushioning effect of anti-fatigue matting allows continuous micro-movements of feet, which minimizes blood pooling in the legs. The floor mat may also provide relief from cold/damp conditions. There is good reason to believe that reduction of fatigue also reduces the possibility of accidents and improves general work efficiency. There are a fewer lost days to injuries, fewer medical claims, and compliance with new health and safety requirements.

Too much cushioning can have a negative effect. Too great an amount of softness or ‘give’ will actually cause excessive fatigue because it overworks the muscles. Think of it like jogging on the beach as an extreme example of this concept.

2. What’s the pay-back?

According to ergonomic consultant and author Mr. Dan MacLeod, a good rule of thumb is that one minute of time per day in the workplace is worthy roughly €100 per year. Thus, five minutes of lost time per day due to fatigue is worth roughly €500 per year. When multiplied across the workforce of an organisation, it doesn’t take a calculator to see the economic justification that supports an investment in matting.

3. Why all these different mats?

Although the outcome of studies in favour of using mats is perfectly clear, the effectiveness remains subjected to the perception of workers. The physical size of the worker, and their preferences as to what is comfortable, will cause different mats to be selected. A person weighing 90kg will need a different mat than someone who only weighs 60kg.

Besides the softness/hardness, also important to watch is worker’s freedom of movement. While the anti-slip function is important (I out of every 6 workplace injuries is related to slip or fall accidents, translating into 35% of all days lost for time off for medical recovery), easy twist-turns are just as important.

4. Why Matworks?

Matworks offers the perfect solution for standing workers because, like no other producer of mats, we understand the difference of perceptions of workers as well as the variety of workplace conditions that exist.