Businesses that lay down rubberized floor mats during the winter months are pretty smart. Floor mats reduce slip and fall injuries, help keep floors looking cleaner, and make it easier for maintenance personnel to do their jobs. Branded floor mats even offer an opportunity to put the company name and logo in front of customers.

With spring on the way, company owners will start thinking about picking up those floor mats for the season. But should they? Is winter the only time when floor mats are practical?

Alsco, the Salt Lake City company that introduced the world to uniform rental services, says that floor mats are an integral part of the modern uniform and linen business. They say that a full range of businesses covering everything from retail to manufacturing make use of floor mats. Alsco recommends leaving them in place year-round.

Accidents Aren’t Seasonal

The winter season is obviously an important season to have floor mats in place. Ice and snow can make floors quite slippery, increasing the likelihood that a slip and fall accident will occur. Yet Alsco reminds property owners that accidents are not seasonal. They can occur in the heat of the summer just as easily.

Rainwater from a visitor’s shoes could be every bit as slippery as snow and ice. In a good rainstorm, a floor that would be dangerous during a snowstorm is still equally dangerous. As such, it is a good idea to leave floor mats in place at all entrances.

Floor mats do not have to be replaced as often during the summer months because they don’t get as dirty as quickly. Indeed, an especially dry summer might mean that some floor mats never get changed. That’s fine. It’s more important that the mats remain in place even if they are not routinely changed.

Industrial Environments Don’t Change

It should be obvious that industrial environments do not change with the seasons. A company utilizing floor mats in an industrial space would obviously use them year-round. The only difference might be in regard to loading dock areas where snow and ice are problematic. Still, the previous section of this post applies. Just because it’s no longer snowing doesn’t make those particular areas any safer. Accidents can still happen.

Branding is Good Year-Round

You cannot talk floor mats without discussing the branding opportunities they offer. A floor mat embedded with the company logo and name offers a positive welcoming message to anyone who comes through the door. Why would a company owner want that message to go away just because spring has arrived?

If anything, branding opportunities are even stronger during the spring and summer months. Less potent weather dictates that floor mats stay cleaner for longer periods of time, thus enhancing entry ways. You could make the case that your best branding efforts in relation to floor mats occur during the dry, summer months.

The Right Kind of Floor Mats

Of course, all the benefits of floor mats are contingent upon making sure you use the right ones. Different environments require different kinds of mats. The floor mats you would use to guard the public entrance into your building would not be the same ones used to give workers in the warehouse a no-slip surface to walk on.

A good floor mat is a no-slip floor mat with a rubber backing. The mats you typically find in entry ways combine a rubber backing with a plush top surface that looks a lot like carpet. At any rate, there is no reason to pull them up just because spring is coming.