Time to upgrade your school entrance mats and other campus safety matting? Start here.

A high volume of foot traffic means colleges and schools need surfaces that are resilient, hard-wearing and slip-resistant. Based on the layout and size of your school or college, you’ll need protective mats for:

• Entrances
• Gyms, swimming and recreation facilities
• Residential communal bathrooms
• Kitchen, catering and bar areas
• Workshops (used by maintenance teams and tech classes)
• Laboratories, server rooms and other areas sensitive to static electricity
• Slippery outdoor walkways and high level walkways

• First, check that all existing entrance mats are still doing their job. If any are no longer scraping shoes and wheeled traffic clean or absorbing liquids effectively, it’s time to consider replacing them – a great quality entrance mat should stop slips and trips, prevent floor damage, and reduce cleaning intervals.

• Keep in mind the local weather throughout the year – if heavy rain or snow is likely, make sure to select winter-ready mats with extra-absorbent carpet inserts and excellent drainage.

• Consider the environment – do you need surface mounted walkways or recessed entrances? Are there any exterior accessibility needs, such as mats that won’t disrupt wheelchairs and other mobility aids?

• Are the school entrance mats for permanent or temporary use (e.g. for see how a West Sussex school used Frontrunner Plus for portable classrooms during construction)?

• The perimeters of pools, locker rooms and shower areas can become slippery with just a small volume of water underfoot. When looking for additional protection for guests, students and faculty staff, make sure your pool, shower and wet area floor mats have great drainage.

• The exterior pool perimeter is often too hot to stand, walk or sit on. Consider mats that act as a thermal barrier between people and the hot surface.

• Select a mat with an embossed or etched surface and decent cushioning so it’s comfortable for bare feet, while still providing a firm underfoot grip to prevent slips

• Look for mats containing antifungal and antimicrobial additives for continuous hygiene – a must-have in humid and wet environments where people are barefoot

• Consider whether the mat is easy to clean, and easy to shift to clean the floor surface below (we recommend a one-piece construction mat that can be rolled or lifted, rather than tiled mats)

• Define your water polo field quickly and easily with Floorline Water Polo, a tri-colored 15m roll that's light to carry and easy to install with seamless storage.

We recommend reading our guide on selecting the right mat for each zone of a kitchen, catering and bar based on its function. Here are the mats we suggest for these areas:

• Food prep counters: Herongripa
• Cooking stations: Vynagrip
• Washing up stations: Vynagrip or Floorline
• Refrigerated areas, like walk-in fridges and freezers: Vynagrip
• Service areas: Floorline or Heronair

• If there are metal or wood offcuts, a slip-resistant mat with fall-through is essential for underfoot safety
  
  
• Choose whether safety edging is necessary to prevent trips when handling tools, dangerous substances or delicate equipment
  
  
• For laboratory floor mats and workshop matting where people spend long hours on their feet, look for mats with anti-fatigue properties suitable for the type of work being carried out – this will help concentration, and reduce accidents as well as the cumulative damage caused by standing on solid floors
  
  
• Pick anti-static floor mats for server rooms or laboratory environments where there’s risk of electrostatic discharge

• While single-ply roof membranes can usually withstand light foot-traffic, it’s not advisable to walk on them without a roof safety walkway as they can become extremely slick when wet. Large campus buildings often require maintenance on the roofs (for solar panels, A/C units, and more), and using roof protection mats to create safe pathways can help protect people working at heights:
  
  > Crossgrip PVC is a vinyl roof mat designed for the majority of flat commercial roofs
  > Crossgrip TPO is compatible with TPO and EPDM roof membranes
  

• For safe pathways in slippery areas (particularly outside in heavy rain and snow), look for a diamond cut pattern for excellent underfoot traction, and an open-grid for drainage
  
  
• To insure roof protection, consider roof walkway matting that sits at a raised height to help elevate workers off the roof surface
  

We supply safety matting to some of the USA’s largest colleges, and to schools of all sizes and shapes across the country. If you need matting advice tailored to your campus’ needs, get in touch with us today.