Get Safety Mats that are Affordable, Protective and Easy to Install

An astounding statistic, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, or CPSC, released that about 200,000 children are treated in U.S. hospital emergency rooms each year for playground equipment-related injuries. About 150,000 of these injuries are from public playgrounds while 50,000 are from residential playgrounds (http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/323.html). To keep your children from being one of these statistics, consider installing safety mats for playgrounds. An outdoor playmat can dramatically reduce the potential for a fall to severely harm or injure a child. While many public parks are installing outdoor flooring for playgrounds made of rubber, many homeowners do not give ample thought to their floor surface for playground areas in their own backyard! Playground equipment should never be installed right on grass or concrete, but rather on top of some sort of protective surfacing. While there are many options of protective playground surfacing available, rubber tiles are recommended because of their many safety qualities listed below:

• Solid Surface, Clean Edges: While concrete chips and cracks after time, rubber tiles remain smooth or – if damaged – can be replaced easily by interlocking a replacement tile into the damaged tile’s spot. This smooth surface reduces chances of children tripping on any uneven surfaces. Rubber child safety mat products usually come with ramps as well that outline the perimeter of the play area to ensure that children are less likely to trip over the edges of the tiles, as the tiles sit higher than the subsurface. With a solid surface, any broken glass or sharp objects sit on top of the surfacing rather than becoming embedded or covered, as they would with a loose-fill surfacing (e.g. sand!). These hazardous objects will then stay in plain sight so that they can be cleaned up easily and quickly. Installing a solid rubber play area will also require little hassle to clean the entire surface – just a quick sweep or mop down. With a cleaner playground surface, the play area will be more sanitary, so any younger children who put things in their mouths will have less risk of grave hygienic concerns.

• Anti-Slip: Using a rubber child safety mat greatly reduces the risk of falls and slips because rubber has a naturally high coefficient of friction to provide enhanced traction. With children running every which way, it is extremely helpful for a commercial and residential surface for playground sites to have anti-slip properties. While slips are bound to happen, the amount of accidental trips are drastically decreased when a non-slip outdoor playmat is in place.

• Shock Absorbent: Rubber mats are dense and springy to the touch. This thickness of the material and resiliency help to absorb shock waves, lessening the damage from impact. The mat absorbs the harmful and painful waves from the impact to stop them from being rebounded back into the object that fell. When a child either trips or falls from a taller structure, the shock absorbency of the mat will help protect them from more serious injury. This same property also helps to protect their joints as they jump or run around because it relieves tension or stress from their joints, which helps to prevent joint pain when they are older.

• Cushion: Perhaps the most important safety feature, rubber outdoor flooring for playgrounds offers a cushioned, softer surface for extra protection. This cushion is what protects children when they fall from the taller structures. While a rubber child safety mat cannot completely prevent pain, it vastly reduces chance of critical injury. Make sure that you choose products that are rated for ASTM F1292. “The purpose of this specification is to establish minimum impact attenuation requirements for playground surfaces in order to reduce the risk of severe head injury from falls.” It is the safety standard for all public playgrounds.

Both a public and residential surface for playground areas must follow the safety guidelines set forward by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to ensure that your family is aptly protected from dangerous playground equipment related injuries. While it is impossible to guarantee zero injuries, avoid the most harmful and serious ones by installing a rubber outdoor playmat. Outdoor flooring for playgrounds is available in interlocking designs. This allows for safe and quick installation by anyone. The fear associated with installing complicated floors no longer remains in public facilities and backyard play areas. For better protection at public parks, however, convince your community to install safety tiles for playgrounds in your neighborhood. A rubber child safety mat is a comfortable and affordable layer of protection to ensure your family is safe.