Your checklist for changing room and swimming pool matting
Need to make your swimming facilities safer this summer?
You’re probably already familiar with slip-resistant pool matting for walkways – but did you know that not every slip-resistant mat is appropriate to use for barefoot flooring?
Here’s how to choose swimming pool matting that will help prevent slips – and so much more.
Placing slip-resistant pool matting around pool perimeters, inside changing rooms, and along paths is paramount when it comes to keeping employees and visitors safe in these high-slip environments.
But there’s a lot more to effective pool safety mats and locker room floor mats than just slip resistance; you also need to make sure the mat is comfortable for bare feet, can cope with scorching temperatures and UV rays, provides the highest level of hygiene, and is easy to clean.
Here’s an easy checklist to follow the next time you need new barefoot pool matting, plus two of our favourite barefoot matting options:
Excellent drainage
Around pools, you should choose self-draining pool deck mats such as Heronrib. Thanks to its channelled underbars, Heronrib automatically self-drains – even when faced with large amounts of water. This is important because you want to avoid water pooling on the ground, as this is both a slip hazard and a hygiene risk, especially in humid environments.
UV-resistant
UV rays from the sun can actually erode many plastic and rubber mats, damaging their integrity. Make sure any outdoor barefoot matting or pool safety mats are UV-resistant – this is especially important if the matting will be outside, and in extreme summer temperatures.
Comfortable for bare feet
Look for a softer mat with an etched or embossed surface that will help provide not only safety, but also comfort underfoot.
Chemical resistant
It’s also important to make sure any matting for a swimming pool environment is chemical resistant, in particular to chlorine water and the cleaning products used on the floor surfaces of your facilities.
A thermal barrier that doesn’t absorb the heat
Tiles, wood decking and paved paths can all reach scorching temperatures under the sun. This is a safety risk in itself, and can increase the likelihood of people – especially kids – running around the perimeter of the pool. Choose swimming pool mats that don’t absorb the sun’s heat and create a raised surface off the hot ground to help keep people safe.
The highest level of hygiene
Providing continuous barefoot flooring hygiene is crucial in wet and humid environments. All Plastex mats contain antimicrobial and antifungal additives to ensure excellent hygiene, no matter how much foot traffic your pool, jacuzzi, changing rooms and shower areas get.
A breeze to install
Picking a walkway solution that's easy to install, and simple to move, as well as store away, helps save valuable time for facility managers and cleaning teams. Our roll-and-go barefoot matting is not only quick to install, its one piece construction means you get total flexibility on moving it, or storing it away when a walkway isn't needed.
Easy to clean
Plastex barefoot flooring mats are lightweight and easy to move for cleaning (and storage in the low-season). Maintenance teams need to be able to clean all pool matting and locker room floor mats and the original floor surface throughout and at the end of the season to maintain hygiene and appearance, and one-piece construction mats are much simpler to lift up for cleaning than interlocking tiles, which can come apart when moved.
Case study
Heronrib barefoot matting ensures safe walkways
When the Blue Lagoon in Iceland needed a barefoot flooring solution that would prevent slips, protect from bacterial contamination and provide comfort underfoot for their 400,000+ visitors a year – including on uneven and slippery surfaces – they came to Plastex.
Here are two great changing room and pool matting options to consider
Case study
Heronrib provides slip-resistant poolside walkway
When the Magnolia Independent School District in Texas needed a safe barefoot walkway for its indoor swimming facility (used by more than 300 students each day, as well as members of the local community), they ordered several hundred metres of Heronrib to line the pool perimeter.
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When thinking about how best to keep your visitors and staff safe from slips, our team is here to help.