How To Choose An Office Chair Floor Protector
When planning your office furniture, an office chair floor protector may not be one of the first things on your list. However, if you neglect to buy an office chair mat for each workstation, you will regret not doing so. Health and safety regulations demand that work chairs should be easily movable and are on wheels or castors. The constant movement can have a very detrimental effect on your floor if you do not adequately protect it.
Choosing The Right Office Chair Floor Protector
1. Take into consideration the thickness of the carpet in the office and the size of the castors or wheels on your office chairs. The thicker the floor covering, the thicker the office floor protector needs to be. However the smaller the castors, the more the chair will sink into the pile below, so a low pile carpet with a chair with very small castors might require the same thickness of chair mat as a chair with larger wheels on a thicker piled carpet. If you do not get the right thickness, the operator will not be able to move comfortably on his chair towards and away from the desk as required, because the wheels will be digging into the floor protector mat into the flooring beneath.
2. If you are placing a mat on a carpet, the backing will need to be different than if you are placing it on a smooth floor such as linoleum or wood. It is very important from the health and safety point of view that the mat does not move from its position.
3. Another important health and safety consideration is that each floor chair mat is the correct size for the workstation where it is to be placed and that a protective lip or edging all around the mat ensures that it does not present a trip hazard to staff or the annoyance of the mat ‘riding up’ every time the desk chair is pulled out from under the desk in order for the operator to be able to sit down. When making your calculation for the size of mat required, take into account the width between the left and right hand legs of the desk, the distance between the desk and any furniture behind it and the width of the wheel base on the operator’s chair.
4. For your staff’s comfort in a normal office environment, you might also want to consider anti-static office chair floor protector mats. These are very important if you have chosen carpeting with a large component of man-made materials as static build up can cause a nasty shock for staff when touching metal filing cabinets and so on. Anti static mats are also essential for any environment where any sort of electrical assembly work is carried out.
5. Consider the amount of time the workstations are used each day. Inevitably, if your workplace is a 24/7 operation, all furnishings, including desk chair carpet protectors will get more wear and tear than if your office is only staffed from nine till five.
6. Think about the look you want to achieve. If you have carefully chosen floor coverings to complement wall coverings and blinds, you may not want to cover up large areas of it with mats, no matter how good the quality. An option that you could choose in this instance would be to buy clear office chair carpet protector mats. These are a good compromise between retaining the look you want and providing protection for your floor coverings and comfort for your staff.
By thinking carefully about the safety requirements for your office, as well as the final look, you will be sure to make the right choice when buying office chair floor protector mats.