3 Benefits of Swimming Pool Matting

3 Benefits of Swimming Pool Matting

Whether it’s a summer dip in the pool or taking the kids to their weekly swimming lesson at the leisure centre, safety is essential.

Water can easily get splashed out of swimming pools, making floors cold, slippery, and wet. This creates a hazard to anyone walking in the area.

Slippery floors can lead to severe injuries, which puts gym and leisure centre owners at high risk of costly compensation claims when accidents happen. That is why the floor must be fitted with suitable and high-quality non-slip swimming pool matting.

Keep reading our quick guide to learn more about how swimming pool mats and flooring can benefit you.

1) Improve Safety

One of the primary purposes of swimming pool matting is to reduce the chances of slipping. Constant splashes make the area directly around the pool almost impossible to keep dry, but swimming pool matting helps to tackle this issue by providing a grippy surface for visitors' feet. When installed correctly, it raises people above slippery wet floors allowing excess water that builds up on the floor to drain efficiently. The surface of the matting is designed to be comfortable against bare feet but also to provide grip to allow people to walk confidently.

2) Improve Hygiene

Another benefit of swimming pool matting is hygiene. Creating and maintaining a clean and hygienic pool environment is vital to keep your business running successfully.

Swimming pool matting is made from PVC material that inhibits fungi and bacteria growth. PVC is also non-reactive with oils from shampoos, soaps and chlorines, which means it’s a great, durable option for shower and changing room areas and will not wear away or discolour over time.

Some matting types even use anti-microbial treatments to protect the surface for even longer by effectively keeping mould and mildew at bay (yes, even for those who walk barefoot!).

3) Helps with Housekeeping

Finally, investing in high-quality swimming pool matting means you don’t need to worry about constant upkeep! When there is no matting around the pool areas, regular floor cleaning to remove hazardous standing water (a constant issue in public swimming pools) would be required.

Instead, using adequate matting allows the water overspill to drain underneath the mats, where it can safely remain out of reach until the matting is rolled up and disinfected. This is excellent news for your business: you can spend less time and money ensuring the areas around the pool are clean.

Is swimming pool matting legally required in my workplace?

By law, as a pool owner or operator, you are fully responsible for the health and safety of all employees, visitors, and pool users. The new and updated Health and Safety Legislation clearly states that “Every pool operator is responsible for the health and safety of employees, pool users and other people on the premises”.

Additionally, the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations states: “As a pool operator, under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations (MHSWR), you must carry out an assessment of the risks which may affect employees, and others, as a result of the work activity. These requirements also take into account members of the public using the pools. You must then take appropriate action to eliminate or reduce those risks as far as is reasonably practicable.“

Final Word

In summary, properly using suitable matting makes floor surfaces around swimming pools much safer for everyone. Of course, people should be careful, and children should always be supervised when using a swimming pool, but effective matting also stops the growth of unwanted germs without you having to worry about cleanliness constantly.

This is especially important to consider (and act upon!) as a business owner to avoid finding yourself in the middle of a big and complicated compensation claim.

We hope you have found this post helpful. If you have any further questions or queries, please contact our friendly team, who will be more than happy to help.

See our full range of Leisure Matting for similar products you may be interested in.