These are essentially rubber mats with holes in them, allowing grass to grow through. They can offer the same look and feel as grass on its own but reduce the need for maintenance and provide better fall protection. However, many of the products available don’t have a durable and robust fixing system, which means the tiles need to be either pegged or tied in place and, over time, the tiles can come loose and become tripping hazards.

Many might argue that bark chips provide a less messy, more aesthetic alternative to sand. And perhaps they’d be right, but bark chips still come with all the same issues as sand: they’re high maintenance, difficult for wheelchair users and have the potential to become unhygienic. Unlike sand, however, they can become a serious fire hazard in spells of dry weather.

Wetpour is made from a rubber crumb bonded together to form a bouncy surface with a look not unlike tarmac. It’s hygienic, flame resistant and can be very versatile: there’s a great range of colours to choose from and they can be made to fit any design scheme. But the durability of wetpour can be variable and, if insufficient binder is used, it will quickly fall apart. Even if mixed correctly, it can crumble over time due to repetitive wear or UV light degradation. So, while there’s no shortage of playground surfacing options here, they all have their advantages and disadvantages. To make things clearer, let’s review some of the factors to consider when choosing an appropriate flooring material.

The principal purpose of protective flooring in playgrounds is to minimise the likelihood of serious injury when a child falls. A safety standard known as the Critical Fall Height (CFH) is essentially a measure of the shock absorbency of a playing surface such that a fall from below the CFH should not result in a critical head injury. Once the CFH of a surface is known, playground equipment can be chosen to ensure that there is no possibility of a child falling onto the surface from any height exceeding that surface’s CFH. The fall height of playground equipment is determined by its intended use – irrespective of its total height – so it’s important to get confirmation of the fall height from the manufacturer.

It’s an unfortunate reality that fires can start in playgrounds, either by accident or arson, so it’s imperative to factor this in when choosing a flooring material. If left to become dry, some materials – such as bark chips and grass – can easily catch fire and spread fire quickly. As well as posing a threat to the safety of children and the environment, this can also result in widespread and costly damage to both the playing surface and playground equipment. Sand is one example of a naturally fire-resistant option, and some modern synthetic materials are not only resistant to catching alight but are actually designed to contain fire and self-extinguish.

Products such as sand, grass and bark chip have, as you might expect, a naturally low environmental impact. However, synthetic alternatives are capable of being much more environmentally responsible than one might think. Recycling waste petroleum base products into playground flooring prevents them from going to landfill, thereby trapping the CO2 that would otherwise end up in the atmosphere if left to degrade. Plus: using recycled material also cuts out the generation of greenhouse gasses associated with creating virgin material. So, the added benefits of synthetic materials (such as improved hygiene, durability, accessibility and shock absorbency) needn’t come with a high environmental cost.

Choosing the right playground safety surface can be tough, so to make things easier, we’ve put together this comparison table, which contains the pros and cons of each of the above options as well as the Matta Products so you can see how they all stack up.