Type of works: installation of Polysafe Strata sheet vinyl safety floors.

Vibrant shades from the highly decorative Polysafe Strata collection of sheet vinyl safety floors, from commercial flooring specialist Polyflor Ltd, have been used to reproduce a striking school crest, inset into flooring of the same material, in the main entrance hall at Clwyd Community Primary School, Swansea.

The inlay was created via the Polyflor Expressions Design Service which uses computerised water jet cutting technology to produce, with pinpoint accuracy, the precise shapes and styles required for complex inlaid decoration. As well as in the entrance hall, an eye-catching Deep Blue shade from Polysafe Strata was installed in circulation and walkway areas.

“We are very pleased with the flooring chosen to reproduce the school crest,” says head teacher Ann Morgan. “It has helped create a highly colourful and warm welcome for our visitors and is also slip resistant. This improves safety for pupils and staff alike. Plus it’s extremely easy to keep clean.”

Polysafe Strata is available in 9 exciting shades, each featuring a different multi-coloured flake decoration. Polysafe Strata’s base colours are already popular choices in Polyflor’s established Polysafe Standard range.

In all other respects, Polysafe Strata is designed to mirror the features and benefits of Polysafe Standard in relation to availability, price, cleanability and sustainable slip-resistant performance.

In common with Polysafe Standard and the majority of safety floors in the comprehensive Polysafe portfolio, Polysafe Strata also achieves the highest possible BRE Global environmental performance rating of A+ in major use areas such as healthcare and education (certificate no: ENP 336). The product rating is based on the whole life environmental impact of the flooring over a building life of 60 years, thereby contributing to a healthy BREEAM score.

Incorporating quartz crystals, aluminium oxide and silicon carbide particles throughout the vinyl for improved traction and safety underfoot, Polysafe Strata, can be welded at the seams and to coved skirtings to create continuous, impervious surfaces.

And, as with all Polysafe ranges, the product has been independently tested and results demonstrate that it inhibits the growth of MRSA. An effective cleaning regime is, however, the most important defence against infection.

As well as meeting the performance requirements of EN 13845, the range conforms to HSE Guidelines, achieving a sustainable slip-resistance value of ≥36 on the RRL Pendulum wet test (using Four-S/Slider 96 rubber) and a surface roughness of Rz ≥ 20µm. Fully tested to fire safety standard EN 13501-1, Polysafe Strata is certified as Class Bfl-S1, achieving the criteria EN ISO 9239-1 ≥ 8kw/m² and the mandatory requirement of EN ISO 11925-2 pass.

In addition, Polysafe Strata is 100% recyclable and contains recycled material. A full Environmental Report detailing Polyflor’s achievements in areas such as recycling, energy reduction and waste avoidance can be found at www.polyflor.com/environment.