ENTRANCE MATS, A GOOD DEFENSE
It’s that time of year when many sports teams are either ending or beginning their season. Many people look and analyze who has the best offense and defense. The phrase is thrown around “the best offense is a good defense”. What kind of defense do you have in your building or home to protect your quarterback – er, floors? Outside dirt and grit cause the most damage to your indoor floors. What line of defense will keep them out? Entrance mats.
Statistics show that:
• 85% of the dirt in your building entered on the soles of peoples shoes.
• One square yard of commercial carpet can accumulate up to one pound of dirt in a week ~ twice that in the winter months
• It can take the foot traffic from just 1500 people to remove 42% of the finish from your tile
If you are responsible for the floor care in a commercial building, you already understand the term “coefficient of friction.” The dress shoes we wear today have more surface area and texture so they can provide better “kinetic friction” which helps prevent slip/fall accidents. This is a huge design change from the smooth, leather sole dress shoes we used to wear. The change was to create better friction with a floor, however, the change created a way for more dirt to get trapped in the tread and subsequently release the dirt—inside your building. Because of a simple design change on the tread of shoes, more dirt is being brought into buildings. Another thing that has occurred is
more people wear casual, athletic type shoes. Those shoes will also bring more soil into your building.
The change was to create better friction with a floor, however, the change created a way for more dirt to get trapped in the tread and subsequently release the dirt inside your building. Because of a simple design change on the tread of shoes, more dirt is being brought into buildings. Another thing that has occurred is more people wear
casual, athletic type shoes. Those shoes will also bring more soil into your building.
Entrance mats and matting work 24 hours a day, seven days a week, helping keep a building clean. Stopping dirt at the door not only reduces cleaning labor costs and wear on your floors, but it also reduces the need for cleaning chemicals that might be harmful to the building occupants and the environment. When mats are the proper type, size, and placed properly, your
maintenance costs will be reduced and it helps you reach your green cleaning goal.
Do you and your staff strive to use “green” cleaning products that will have less of an impact on the environment and occupants of your building?
• Do you look for ways to make cleaning your building more efficient?
• Are you constantly looking for ways to reduce your labor costs?
Over and over again I see entrance mats that have outlived their useful life allowing dirt to be spread throughout a building. I see perfectly good recess mats with another mat placed on top because someone thought it would stop more dirt.
Owning vs. Renting Entrance Mats
• Owning mats will guarantee you the exact look, style and color you want.
• Rent mats for entrances that receive the most foot traffic.
• Own mats if your maintenance staff can keep them clean.
• Rent mats for just the worst months of the year
Return on investment is a consideration when it comes to owning vs. renting entrance mats. Renting entrance mats is more expensive, but if you don’t have the staff to keep them clean, you have no choice. A dirt and water loaded entrance mat is going to add costs to your maintenance budget. Worse yet is to have a visitor slip and fall on the adjoining floor because the mat is saturated with water. Did you know that the average legal fees and settlement costs of a slip/fall related injury can exceed $28,000.00! You can buy a whole lot of entrance mats and safety with that kind of money.
DID YOU KNOW
• Fall fatalities are nearly equally divided between men and women.
However, more women will experience a slip-and-fall accident. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, falls accounted for 5% of the job-related fatalities for women compared to 11% for men.
• Falls account for over 8 million hospital emergency room visits,
representing the leading cause of visits (21.3%). Slips and falls account for over 1 million visits, or 12% of total falls.
• 85% of worker’s compensation claims are attributed to employees slipping on slick floors.
(text statistics courtesy National Floor Safety Institute)
(clip art source:downtownlalaw.com)
THE BOTTOM LINE
There are four things an entrance mat should do:
1. Provide a Safe Walking Surface
2. Stop Dirt and Water at the Door
3. Minimize Tracking of Dirt and Water
4. Store Dirt and Water for Later Removal
While these things are mostly applicable to commercial buildings, they also have an impact on your household. Stopping dirt and water at the door will help you get the best life out of your floorcoverings. Dirt and grit can severely impact the appearance of any hard surface flooring by causing scratching and dents. In the picture above, it can take several steps to sufficiently clean your shoes. While it may not be attractive to have a long mat in your entrance way instead, start the soil removal with a specific mat outdoors or in the garage. Any help you can provide your floor will protect your investment.
Entrance mats are a safe and essential part of your team’s defense and green cleaning system.