Standing water where somebody has to work

Three separate problems, one wet floor

Slip risk, because water on a hard smooth surface behaves much like oil does, and detergent in the water makes it worse.

Standing in it, because a person at a fixed position with water round their boots for a shift is a comfort and a hygiene problem regardless of whether they slip.

What grows in it, because a wet floor that never fully dries, particularly under something that traps moisture against it, is exactly the condition an auditor is looking for.

A solid mat addresses none of these and can make all three worse, which is why the honest answer here starts with drainage rather than with cushioning.

What an open grid changes

Water goes through it rather than sitting on it. That sounds obvious and it is the entire point. The surface you stand on stays clear, the water reaches the floor and goes to the drain the floor already has, and the deck holds you above the wet rather than in it.

It also stops the trapped-moisture problem, because a grid does not seal against the floor. Air gets under it and it can be lifted for cleaning without a struggle.

The trade is that small things fall through. If you drop components regularly, that is a real cost and worth weighing.

Grip as well, if there is anything in the water

Clean water is one thing. Water with detergent, oil, fat or product in it is another, and that is the common case in a washdown area.

Where that applies, the deck needs a gritted top as well as an open grid. Those are the two features doing different jobs: the grid gets liquid off the surface, the grit deals with whatever film is left on it.

Keeping the deck out of the hygiene conversation

• Lift it and clean under it as part of the washdown routine. A deck you never lift will eventually be the thing the auditor points at.
• Kits are not fixed down, so lifting them is a normal weekly job rather than a project.
• If the area is on a documented hygiene regime, the compound itself matters and there is an antimicrobial version of the drainage deck for exactly that reason.
• Tell us your washdown temperature and chemistry before ordering. We would rather confirm the compound takes it than have you find out on a Friday.

If the area is on a hygiene specification, the compound matters as well as the drainage. Hygiene on a production floor.

Questions people ask

Will a drainage mat stop the floor being slippery?

It stops you standing on the slippery surface, which is not the same thing. The floor underneath is as slippery as it was, and anybody crossing the area away from the deck is still on it. Drainage matting is a control at a position, not a treatment for a floor.

Do things fall through the grid?

Yes. That is the trade for drainage and it is the main reason to choose a solid deck instead where the floor is only occasionally wet. On a production floor it is often preferable, because nothing gets trapped underneath a solid mat.

Can it be pressure washed?

Lift it and wash it, along with the floor. Tell us your temperature and chemistry and we will confirm before you order rather than after.