Anti-Fatigue Mat

An anti-fatigue mat is a resilient rubber, foam, or gel mat placed on a hard floor at a workstation where an employee stands for most of a shift, designed to flex slightly under the weight of a standing worker's feet and encourage small, constant shifts in posture that a perfectly rigid concrete or tile floor does not, which reduces the muscle fatigue, lower back strain, and joint discomfort that come from standing still on a hard surface for hours at a time. The mats are common at assembly line stations, packing benches, checkout counters, and machine operator positions, anywhere a job requires standing in one place rather than walking, and many workplace ergonomics programs treat them as a low-cost, easily retrofitted improvement compared to redesigning the workstation itself. Beveled edges are standard on the mat's border so that the raised surface does not itself become a tripping hazard for a worker stepping on or off it.