When discussing workplace mats, the conversation usually centers on three things: comfort during standing work, traction to prevent slips, and resistance to oil or chemicals. There is a fourth characteristic that rarely comes up, yet is just as relevant on a production floor, in a workshop, or even in a busy retail space: noise reduction. After all, the surface onto which tools fall, carts rattle, or machines vibrate plays a significant role in determining how much noise actually reverberates through a space.

Noise at work is a bigger problem than most people think.

Noise disturbance is often associated with construction sites and heavy industry, but recent research shows that the problem is more widespread. About half of the workforce in the Netherlands is regularly bothered by noise in the workplace, and for 34 percent, this leads to issues such as headaches, reduced concentration, and misunderstandings. For the more than 800,000 people in the Netherlands with mild hearing loss, this strain is even greater; moreover, because hearing loss develops gradually and unnoticed, it often goes unrecognized until a late stage.

An important detail: it is not just about noise loud enough to damage hearing. According to the Occupational Health and Safety Portal, even lower-level but continuous noise such as rattling carts, a squeaking door, or colleagues having to raise their voices to be understood can lead to stress, fatigue, and concentration problems, and even increases the risk of accidents because warning signals are harder to hear.

For the aspect of the noise issue that can actually cause hearing damage, the legal standard is clearly defined: the risk of hearing damage begins at 80 decibels, and above 85 dB(A), an employer must explicitly include this in the Risk Inventory and Evaluation (RI&E), accompanied by an action plan to limit exposure. To illustrate how quickly this can escalate: every additional 3 decibels represents a doubling of the sound intensity; consequently, a noise level of 86 decibels is considered “safe” for only two hours a day, while noise at 103 decibels can damage hearing in as little as five minutes. In environments where heavy tools are dropped on hard floors or machinery vibrates continuously, this is far from a theoretical scenario.

Why rubber behaves differently here in physical terms compared to a hard floor

Rubber possesses a property that is crucial in this context: it is inherently viscoelastic. Rubber absorbs mechanical energy by converting it into a negligible amount of heat, rather than transmitting the vibration to the surrounding structure. A rubber mat placed beneath vibrating equipment thus interrupts the transmission path between the vibration source and the floor below—something that concrete or a hard plastic floor is simply incapable of doing.

This effect has also been concretely measured. Research into the sound of weights dropping onto a hard surface shows that an impact—which easily generates around 100 decibels on bare concrete—can be reduced by 20 to 25 decibels with a 3/4-inch (approx. 19 mm) rubber floor, and by 10 to 15 decibels with a thinner, half-inch (approx. 12 mm) layer. Given the logarithmic scale of sound, a difference of 20 to 25 decibels is not a marginal improvement but a perceptible halving (or more) of the subjectively perceived sound pressure.

Technical and patent research into mat composition also quantitatively confirms this: a well-engineered damping mat can achieve a reduction in peak noise levels of at least 5 decibels in the lower frequency bands (40–63 Hz) and at least 13 decibels at 80 Hz and above, compared to standard 3/8-inch rubber flooring. This aligns with where much of the impact noise in a production environment is concentrated—specifically in the mid-to-high frequency range perceived as bothersome.

Where this makes the difference

This acoustic property is not equally relevant in every situation, but it is immediately noticeable in a number of common work scenarios:

• For vibrating machinery and equipment where a rubber base isolates vibrations from the underlying floor structure relevant for presses, compressors, or other equipment subject to continuous vibration.
• In areas where tools or parts frequently fall such as workbenches, assembly lines, or workshops where the impact of metal on a hard floor would otherwise propagate through the space unchecked.
• For moving carts and pallet trucks, where the sound of wheels on a seamless, resilient surface is significantly quieter than on bare tile or concrete floors.
• In areas with high foot traffic on hard flooring such as warehouses or retail environments—where the sound of footsteps across large surfaces can build up into a noticeable, persistent background noise.

An additional feature, not a replacement for hearing protection.

It is important to make a realistic distinction here: a mat does not replace hearing protection where noise levels consistently exceed statutory limits, nor does it substitute for addressing noise at the source in the case of heavy industrial noise sources. However, a mat does add value by dampening impact and vibration noise generated at floor level precisely the type of noise that accumulates into the “annoying, continuous noise” explicitly warned against by the Occupational Health and Safety Portal, and which often receives insufficient attention in Risk Inventory and Evaluation (RI&E) reports because it falls below the statutory threshold for hearing damage.

With Base+, this characteristic stems from the same material choice that forms the basis for anti-fatigue and safety mats—rubber mats originally developed for workplaces where people stand for long periods. Their cushioning effect not only reduces pressure on joints but also applies the principle of absorbing energy—rather than transmitting it—to sound and vibration. Consequently, a mat selected for comfort and safety often contributes to a quieter work environment, even if that was not the primary reason for the purchase.

Do you work in an environment with significant impact or vibration noise?

Are you curious about the test data? View them here.