Kitchen Equipment You Need: Wellness Mats
May 20, 2018When it comes to serving customers, you leave no stone unturned.
You choose the best kitchen equipment, test your recipes, buy the best ingredients, and hire excellent staff. Unfortunately, there’s something that even the savviest restaurant owner often forgets – taking care of their employees’ health and wellness. Your employees are the reason you are able to serve your customers at a top level. They deserve to be safe and comfortable – and you can provide that, quickly and easily. The best place to start is with wellness mats.
What Are Wellness Mats?
Designed to reduce the fatigue and pain of standing for long periods of time, wellness mats are kitchen equipment that keep your employees feeling good and moving quickly. If your staff are standing for long periods of time – either at the hostess stand, a stove, or other location – they can develop foot and leg disorders. Not only does this decrease their effectiveness at work, but they can miss time and cost your company money. Wellness mats are an ergonomic solution that cushions your employees’ legs and feet as they stand. They absorb shock from walking as well, helping protect workers as they move from station to station. High-quality wellness mats are an investment in your employees and your business.
The Cost of Employee Injury
Workplace injuries cost money in health insurance and worker’s compensation, of course, but they hurt your business in other ways as well. Workplace injuries can cause:
- Absenteeism that has to be covered by other staff
- Lower morale in the workplace due to overwork or gossip
- Additional paperwork and frustration for management
- Having to hire and train a new employee in case of an extended absence
By taking precautions with your kitchen equipment, including using wellness mats, you can reduce instances of injury, keep employees safe and happy, and protect your restaurant.
Choosing the Best Wellness Mat
How do you choose the right wellness mat? The first step is to realize that a wellness mat and a non-slip mat are not the same. A proper anti-fatigue mat will have cushioning, although it may well be non-slip as well. From there, consider the following:
- What thickness will create the most comfort but the least disruption? Too thick of a mat may be uncomfortable or difficult to use.
- Choose mats with sloped edges to reduce tripping.
- Because you’re in a food preparation area, be sure the mats are easy to clean and keep sanitary.
Your employees can also weigh in on what they would like in anti-fatigue mats. You may want to try a couple of different kinds before making your final decision.
Other Steps to Take
Wellness mats aren’t the only way to keep your employees light on their feet. You can also encourage proper non-slip and shock-absorbing shoes. Shoes should also have proper arch support and heel cushioning. It’s also important to encourage some movement, even among stations as they use kitchen equipment. If your staff have an opportunity to move around, shift their position, or even sit for a time during work, it can make a big difference in their overall wellness. Finally, work to improve the overall floor surface in your kitchen and restaurant. A softer but still sanitary flooring can have a big influence on employee health and wellness.
Get the Kitchen Equipment You Need!
Overall, your kitchen equipment works together with your policies and procedures to help keep your staff safe and effective. We’d love to help you find exactly what you need. We have a variety of wellness mats and other equipment your restaurant needs. Contact us today for more information!
How to Keep Cool in the Restaurant Kitchen
Being in the kitchen, it’s hard not to feel overheated, especially during the summer. The heat of the stoves and ovens will quickly make the restaurant kitchen somewhere you don’t want to be. How do you keep cool in the kitchen? We have brought together some of the...
How and Why to Make Your Restaurant Lead-Free
If you own a restaurant, then you already know how important water is to your operations, and that poor water quality can adversely impact the success of your business. That is why you should ensure a restaurant lead-free environment. Water is an integral part of all...
Can You Handle These 5 Types of Difficult Restaurant Customers?
No matter how much you love it, running a restaurant certainly has its challenges. It is time-consuming, hectic, labor-intensive and competitive. And to cap it all, there are the difficult restaurant customers you often have to deal with. It’s impossible to please...
5 Unique Restaurant Concepts Guaranteed to Thrill Diners
With restaurants on almost every block, having a unique restaurant concept can help set you apart, making your establishment stand out. These concepts may have taken a bit to catch on, but they have quickly become popular sellers. Here are 5 unique restaurant concepts...
How to Run an Energy-Efficient Restaurant
You probably don’t need to be reminded of the high cost of electricity in running a restaurant compared to an energy-efficient restaurant. Right now, many establishments, including restaurants, are going green and adopting eco-friendly strategies to conserve...
Tipping: A Restaurant Controversy
When it comes to tipping or no-tipping policies in restaurants, there are strong feelings on both sides. While many restaurants have implemented no tipping policies, others are strong proponents for tipping. Still others aren’t sure which policy is right for their...
4 Money-Saving Strategies You Can Use in Your Restaurant NOW
Running a restaurant is one of the most interesting and lucrative businesses one can engage in with the right money-saving strategies. However, it also poses to be one of the most difficult. Many factors have to be put into consideration in order to make sure that...
Businesses that Should be Selling Frozen Beverages in 2017
Adding a frozen beverage machine to your slate of money-making channels is great way to drum up additional sales. Since there is low overhead cost associated with selling frozen beverages, whether it is an FCB (Frozen Carbonated Beverage) or FUB (Frozen Uncarbonated...
Start Preparing Your Restaurant for Summer!
As a restaurant owner, you may have noticed that weather has affects the number of customers that walk through your door. It is widely understood, for example, that rain drives customers indoors as they seek shelter from the storm. Snowstorms, of course, discourage...
Create a Memorable Dining Experience with the Right Flatware
According to Will Rogers, “you will never get a second chance to make a first impression.” In a restaurant, flatware is a small but essential part of making a great impression. Flatware is a particularly important design element because customers won’t just look it;...
Cleaning Your Commercial Deep Fryer Made Easy
A commercial deep fryer requires daily cleaning to keep the appliance in perfect working condition. However, cleaning the restaurant’s deep fryer is one of the most dreaded tasks for many restaurant workers. Who could blame them? The process of cleaning a deep fryer...
The Top Chefs Use Cast Iron. Do You?
From pots to pans, restaurant cookware has been made out of all kinds of materials. What kind do you use? It’s time for you to use cast iron. Cast iron cookware has many benefits. Let’s take a look at why you need to be using cast iron in your professional kitchen....
How to Crash the Dine and Dash
Any business that sells physical products is subject to the occasional theft. So do restaurants, but it's just called dine and dash. Those who dine and dash take advantage of the fact that they receive their purchase before they pay, rather than after. In many...
Preparing for Your Restaurant’s Grand Opening
Starting a restaurant is an adventure, especially with the Grand Opening. There will have been months of planning, preparation, purchasing and hiring for your grand opening. When you finally have everything ready, your grand opening is a big deal. If everything is...
Guide to Buying the Perfect Knives
Knives are arguably one of the most important tools in any kitchen. Your chefs are the heartbeat of your restaurant and they deserve quality knives that ease the task of cooking great food. When buying the perfect knives for your chefs, keep in mind that the most...