Can rubber roofing material work as a deck floor itself?

I use my old asphalt deck almost every day for sitting, gardening, and doing wood-working. My landlord (a good guy) is replacing it with rubber decking materials, the popular EPDM, I assume. Can this rubber roofing material be flooring as well by itself? The contractor is going to bring some "pads" with it--but I don't want to move around pads every time I put a chair or table on the roof. (I wonder about smell as well). txs.