Playground

Is Your Playground or Sports Area Safe Enough?

If you are responsible for a public playground, climbing wall, fitness club or any other sports area, I'm sure your biggest concern is safety. But if you're a parent, I bet you worry about your children's safety, too. Sport and play is all about fun, so you shouldn't have these horrifying thoughts! Why not enjoy seeing your kids play just as they do?

Despite regular controls of public playgrounds and legal playground standards (EN1176, EN 1177), we all know that a great number of playgrounds are perilous. Whereas newly built areas are legally required to have certified, child-friendly equipment as well as protective surfacing (eg. rubber playground mats), there are too many old playgrounds where children can still fall on hard soil or concrete and really harm themselves. The same problem applies to amateur football fields, basketball courts and schoolyards.

Protective Playground Surfaces - What (Not) to Choose

What has become a standard in open sports grounds, gyms and public playgrounds, should be applied to all places where children play or might fall. Old play areas, private gardens with climbing equipment, amateur playing fields, schoolyards and recreation grounds in kindergartens, or play rooms where equipment is used. The most common types of protective surfacing are rubber tiles, wet pour and loose-fill materials.

Wet pour is rubber surfacing covering the whole area and installed by a specialised company. It is usually used on professional sports grounds. However, if one part of the surface is destroyed, it must be fixed by the provider, which is both expensive and problematic.

Loose-fill materials, like sand, wood products, bark, or pea shingle are not recommendable because they decay, break-down or disperse very quickly. They need to be maintained properly and depend on the weather. According to RoSPA guidelines, they are not adequate for moving equipment.

Playground mats made of rubber granulate is the most universal and economical safety floor solution. What is most important, it fulfills all the safety requirements regulated by EN1176 and EN1177 standard and British safety organisations such as RoSPA, BSI and the Department of the Environment. Each tile has a specified impact protection capacity for a maximum (critical) fall height. All safety mats should have an appropriate certificate signed by a legal body (e.g. TÜV). This safety floor is appropriate for amateur and professional sports areas, public and private.

WARCO Safety Floor - We Do Not Trust Anybody!

Yes, when it comes to safety and quality, WARCO doesn't trust anybody! That's why:

• we don't import from China or any other country nor manufacturer,
• our safety mats are manufactured in a modern factory near Halle (Saale) in Germany,
• we closely cooperate with TÜV Thuringia and regularly carry out safety tests.

Our safety mats are manufactured from carefully-selected tyre rubber granulate bonded with polyurethane. It is unbelievable how many useful properties this innovative material has! Luckily, it has already been in use for 50 years so it has been sufficiently tested, improved and has become an indisputable no. 1 material for playgrounds all over Europe and the USA. Here are the reasons why:

• Once installed, you won't have to worry about your playground surface anymore. It will last, without loosing its qualities, for 15, 20 and even 25 years because it's permanently elastic and therefore absolutely durable and resilient. If something goes wrong with one tile, you simply take it out and exchange it for a new one. The installation is really easy, a local specialist can help you; most of our clients do it themselves, though. When properly edged, the surface is vandalism-proof.
• Our playground rubber tiles prevent from accidents because they are slip-resistant; the surface is flat and equipped with wedge-shaped edging so there's no danger of stumbling. They cushion and absorb the impact of a fall, providing EN1177-certified fall protection. Thanks to their insulating qualities, your children won't get cold feet. Neither will they wet their sneakers because safety mats are liquid-permeable so water doesn't accumulate on them. Moreover, safety mat relieves stress fatigues when standing or walking for a longer time (hence its popularity at workplaces and retail locations); it also protects our joints when running.
• You will be able to use your playground or sports field all year round. Safety floor made of rubber granulate is most of all practical and weatherproof. It can be used in the summer heat (the mat doesn't melt in the sun and insulates from heat), in rainy weather (no puddles, water goes down and diffuses through the tiles) and in harsh winter (safety floor is absolutely frost proof, non-slip and cold-insulating). What is more, if you want to use the surface for leisure, go ahead! Our playground rubber tiles can be used under garden furniture, barbecue, high heels and some of them even under a vehicle!
• If you care about sustainable and economical solutions, this is the surface for you. The investment costs are reasonable and much smaller then other playground rubber solutions. DIY installation, no follow-up costs and easy maintenance with household tools makes it a very economical flooring. Playground mats can be reused and reinstalled. They are also environmentally-friendly: at the end of life they should be recycled.

Get a Quote and a Free Sample Now

WARCO offers you a range of playground rubber flooring, sports floor tiles and safety mats, depending on the product application, maximum fall height, type of connection (interlocking zip vs. tongue-and-groove) and colour. If you know exactly what you need, go straight to our shop. But if you don't, why not just ask about the most suitable product for you? Call us right now at +44 117 20 50 269 or ask a question by filling out contact form - we will send you a detailed answer with a non-binding offer and a free product sample within one day.