Water cleanses and refreshes us. Soaps,  shampoos and body oils purify, moisturize and relax us. They also make for unpredictable slippery surfaces that we must be able to negotiate in bare feet, alone and without the aid of our normal vision.

The topic of shower stall and gang shower or shower room matting can usually be approached in a more straightforward way than that of bath tub matting since shower areas anticipate standing or sitting on appropriate benches or seats and not on the floor of the shower. 

Bath tubs usually require the user to climb into the tub, sit down on the bottom (both our bottom and the tub's bottom) and more often than not  they give us the option to stand in the tub and use it as a shower instead. Providing an appropriate traction surface that is also comfortable on which to sit in the "all-together" is a special problem all its own.

In residential situations, the responsibility to place a temporary safety bathmat on the bath tub's surface in order to provide enhanced traction for members of one's family of for guests belongs to the home owner. He or she must instruct those who are to be using the shower or to take a bath how to put the temporary safety bathmat in place so that it will function properly.

In a hotel, motel, dormitory, sleep-away camp, camp grounds facility, community center, hospital, nursing home, school or any other such facility where users of the shower or bathtub fixtures will be completely on their own with regard to the placement of a safety bathmat, the responsibility still remains with the owner and or the manager of the facility.

Placing a safety bathmat in the bathroom for the patrons of the facility to use does not absolve the owner from the responsibility to provide a safe and secure facility. The placement of a safety bathmat indicates that the owner is aware that there is a safety problem but, unless the mat is properly installed in the bath tub, should there be a slip and fall accident, there could be no honest claim by the owner that everything one could do was done to provide a safe and secure environment for such users of the tub. In short, the safety bathmat should have been provided in such a way as to not have to depend on a visitor to either remember to put it in place or to figure out how to install it properly.

Even the placement of warning signs in the room reminding and instructing visitors regarding the use of safety bathmats does not change things with regard to responsibility. The sign may say "We are not responsible for this or that" but in most instances you will find that you still are. The placement of a sign such as that is actually tantimount to an admission that we have a dangerous situation here in the bath tub we are providing. Not putting a permanent bathmat in place when one knows that such items exist can be seen as leaving oneself open to criticism almost without doubt.

We will be adding to this Guideline in the future. In the mean time, please feel free to contact us at (800)442-6544 to discuss you particular Bath or Shower matting requirements or take a look at or various product offerings to see if they might address your needs. Click HERE for our Bath & Shower Mat Index.