PlaySmart’s SmartPlay grass mat system is the playground surfacing option for the best child safety playground flooring.
Our rubber grass mat options are designed to suit your play area design ethos and requirements. We offer sustainable flooring with EcoSmart, innovative fireproof mats with FireSmart, and our shock pad underlay playground cushioning material SmartPlay.
For more information on PlaySmart’s playground safety mats options get your Free copy of our comprehensive grass mat guide.
Why Safety Surfacing is Important?
Child-safe playground flooring is vital to PlaySmart’s playground design and is central to our play area surfacing manufacturing and installation.
Before secure safety surfacing was seen as a playground essential, children were not able to have a safe space to play, limiting the full use of the playground we see today.
Nationally certified standards for safety flooring were introduced to the UK in the 1990s, and have been updated to ensure full safety across new surfacing innovations and changes. The British Standards EN 117 is the most recent version of these mandates, for any surface located underneath a critical fall height above 0.6m high requires playground safety surfacing solutions appropriate to protect to that height.
Safety surfacing is a category of soft play surfaces which provides adequate fall protection through shock absorption. Additionally, good quality safety surfacing will be slip-resistant, wheelchair accessible, and have other protective properties such as fireproofing.
What is Critical Fall Height?
Rigorous assessments from independent certifier Labosport has given us the confidence in our grass mats’ ability to provide protection to help reduce the risk of injury, giving children a safe space to play.
The critical fall height is the height of the highest part of the playground structure from which a fall could occur. Providing safety surfacing that meets the cushioning requirements of a fall from this height is the best way to reduce the risks of injury on the playground.
If you are looking to install EcoSmart rubber playground mats and your equipment has a critical fall height of above 2.25m, we recommend at a minimum you installed our SmartPlay 25mm width shock pad underlay. If the critical fall height is above 2.9m, we recommend our best safety surfacing option by combining your rubber matting with SmartPlay at 45mm widths.
What is a SmartPlay Shock Pad Underlay?
Rubber matting is an easy-to-install, low-maintenance surfacing solution, but can be given an extra protective layer with our full-protection SmartPlay shock pad underlay.
This is a thick layer installed underneath the rubber matting to increase the fall protection of your surfacing. This also increases its lifespan by reducing mat sinkage and preventing excess damage to your surface which can impact critical fall height protection.
The 25mm or 45mm shock pad underlay is installed onto a grass base after our expert playground installation team prepares the ground and assesses the quality of the surface to ensure the critical fall height can be achieved on that surface. Once the SmartPlay shock pad is placed, the natural look of your playground is restored by covering it with soil and grass seed, which over time grow through the holes in the SmartPlay and rubber grass mats placed over the top of this.
For more on the engineering innovations and patented design of our SmartPlay grass mats, you can read our expert grass mat article.
What are the Key Benefits of SmartPlay?
- The innovative structure of our rubber grass mats with 20mm wide holes allows for natural grass to grow through for that natural playground look.
- Easy maintenance and upkeep- simply mow over the mats to control grass growth.
- Durability due to the structural design with thick rubber rather than cutting-corners with thinner rubber which inhibits effectiveness and strength.
- When SmartPlay is used alongside rubber grass mats, replacement of these mats when damage occurs is considerably easier and has less impact on your grass and surface soil.
For more reasons why you should choose PlaySmart’s SmartPlay, you can check out our SmartPlay information guide [pdf]
Are Rubber Grass Mats the right safety surfacing for your Playground Project?
For more on our range of rubber grass mats take a look at our explanatory articles on EcoSmart sustainable flooring, and FireSmart fireproof mats.
If you are looking for expert advice and playground consultation services, you can fill in our handy contact form or give us a call at 01564 742811.