BLOG & NEWS
How Much Entrance Matting Do You Actually Need in the Winter?
You need enough entrance matting to dry people’s feet before they reach the main floor, which is usually more than most sites have. There is no single length that suits every building, because it depends on how wet the weather is, how many people come in and how far they walk before the floor stops being wet. The simple test is to check on a wet day: if the floor is still wet beyond the end of the mat, you do not have enough.
The short why
A mat only works while feet are on it. If someone steps off before their shoes are dry, the water goes onto the floor and carries on across the lobby. In winter, there is more water, more people and more wear, so the same mat that coped in summer often stops short.
Why is the answer “enough to dry feet” rather than a set length?
Because the right amount depends on conditions that vary from site to site. The CHIMES framework shows what changes the answer:
- Contamination: how much water, mud and grit arrives on a wet day
- Heel: footwear varies hugely, and wet soles carry water further
- Individual: how many people come in, and whether they are carrying luggage or pushing trolleys
- Maintenance: whether the mat is clean, dry and in good condition, or saturated
- Environment: whether the entrance is covered, how long the walk is to the desk, and how the door is used
- Surface: the floor beyond the mat, and how well it holds grip when wet
A small covered entrance with light footfall is a different job from a busy open entrance with luggage and trolleys. That is why a number from a catalogue is a poor guide.
What does “not enough” look like in practice?
In our work, we have seen a major station with three metres of entrance matting where the floor was still wet well beyond the end of it on a rainy day. Most building entrances are not given anything like that. If three metres is not always enough at a very busy site, a single short mat at the door of a smaller building is unlikely to be.
The signs that you need more are easy to spot:
- The floor is wet beyond the end of the mat
- People walk off the mat and leave wet footprints
- The mat is saturated, and visibly holding as much water as it can
- Water collects at the edge of the mat or the first few steps beyond it
- Staff are mopping the same stretch of floor several times a day
If you see any of these, the mat is not doing the job, however new it is.
Isn’t a clean, dry-looking floor proof that you have enough?
This is the belief worth challenging directly. A floor that looks clean and dry is not necessarily a floor that is safe. At the quiet start of the day, an entrance can look perfect, and the mat can look fine. The test comes when it is busy and wet, which is exactly when nobody is checking.
Grip is invisible too. A floor beyond the mat can look dry and still be slippery, particularly after wet shoes have crossed it. The only way to know how much matting you need is to look at the entrance in wet conditions, and to measure the floor.
Does a bigger mat solve everything?
Not on its own. Size matters, but so do material and maintenance. Matting that does not absorb or trap water well will not dry feet however large it is, and a saturated mat stops working altogether. A mat that curls, bunches or moves is also a trip hazard.
Matting is one control. It does not tell you how much grip the floor has beyond it. Slip resistance is assessed using pendulum testing, the method preferred by the HSE and relied on in UK slip litigation. It produces a Pendulum Test Value (PTV), and a PTV of 36 or above is generally regarded as low slip potential. Below that, risk rises as the number falls. Test the zone just beyond the mat, wet as well as dry.
Slip Safety Services has found that organisations who measure first and then act on what they find see a 57%+ average reduction in slip incidents, because the effort goes where the real risk sits.
What does extra matting cost compared with getting it wrong?
Matting is usually one of the cheaper controls you can change. Adding length, upgrading a material or buying a spare set to swap in during a wet spell costs little next to dealing with an injury, an investigation and the effect on your reputation. No outcome can be guaranteed either way, but prevention is an investment, not an expense. Measuring first also stops you spending on matting where the floor, not the mat, is the real problem.
What to do about it
Pick the next wet day and walk each entrance during a busy period. Note how far from the door the floor stays wet, and compare that with the length of the mat. Check that the mat lies flat, is not saturated and covers the route people actually take, including side and staff entrances.
Then ask three questions. Is the mat long enough to dry feet? Is it made of a material that absorbs and traps water? Is someone responsible for lifting, cleaning and replacing it? Where the floor beyond the mat is wet or polished, get it tested wet. This is general information, not legal advice, so check what applies to your site with your health and safety adviser.
Next step
If you are not sure whether your entrances have enough matting, the Slip Prevention Scorecard takes under four minutes per building and gives you a clear starting point, with a score for each of the six CHIMES factors. For the fuller method behind measuring, improving and proving floor grip, Slipology by Christian Harris covers the process in depth.
Related questions
- Should matting be replaced more often in winter?
- Winter entrance matting: what actually works?
- Do anti-slip mats work?
- Does rain actually make floors more slippery?