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

A lot of foot traffic means schools, colleges and universities need floors that are slip-resistant, hard-wearing and resilient. Depending on the size and layout of your college, university or school, you’ll need protective mats for:

• Entrances
• Fitness, swimming and recreation facilities

• Residential communal bathrooms

• Kitchen, catering and bar areas

• Workshops (used by tech classes and maintenance teams)

• Server rooms, laboratories and other areas sensitive to static electricity

• Slippery outdoor walkways and high level walkways

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

• Consider the local weather throughout the year – if snow or heavy rain is likely, choose winter-ready mats with great drainage and extra-absorbent carpet inserts
  

• Think about the environment – do you need surface mounted walkways or recessed entrances? Are there any additional exterior accessibility needs, such as mats that won’t interfere with mobility aids like wheelchairs?
  

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

• A slip-resistant mat with fall-through is critical for underfoot safety if there are wood or metal offcuts
  

• Consider whether safety edging is needed to prevent trips when handling dangerous substances, tools or delicate equipment
  

• For laboratory floor mats and matting for workshops where people spend long-hours standing, consider mats with anti-fatigue properties suitable for the type of work being carried out – this will aid concentration, and help reduce accidents as well as the cumulative damage caused by standing for long periods of time on hard floors
  

• Select anti-static floor mats for server rooms or laboratory environments where there’s risk of electrostatic discharge

• While single-ply roof membranes can generally cope with light foot-traffic, it’s not advisable to walk on them without a roof safety walkway as they can become very slick when wet. Large campus buildings often need maintenance on the roofs (for A/C units, solar panels, and more), and using roof protection mats to develop pathways can help keep people safe when working at heights:
  
  > Crossgrip 20/20 combines all of Crossgrip PVC’s best features with additional four-way drainage and a 10-year warranty
  > 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 an open-grid for excellent drainage, and a diamond cut pattern for great traction underfoot
  

• To ensure roof protection, look for 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 Canada’s largest universities, and to schools of all shapes and sizes across the country. If you need matting advice specific to your campus’ needs, send us a message.