DIN EN 1177:2018 Impact Attenuating Playground Surfacing – Test Methods for Determining Impact Attenuation
Dennis Frank, ISP GmbH – Institut für Sportstättenprüfung
Fall protection surfaces vary in terms of cost, minimum installation thickness and cleaning and care requirements. It should be noted that the most important property of these surfaces is the safety-related shock absorption. This is the surface's ability to reduce the impact energy that occurs when a child falls from a piece of play equipment. It prevents a critical, even life-threatening, injury. The shock-absorbing properties are determined via HIC value as per DIN EN 1177:2018 (Impact Attenuating Playground Surfacing – Test Methods for Determining Impact Attenuation, German version EN 1177:2018).
This standard is regularly revised and republished. Test reports, which serve to prove the suitability of the fall protection system, should always correspond to the current issue date of the standard EN 1177.
The currently valid edition was published by the DIN Deutsches Institut für Normung e.V. (German Institute for Standardization) in March 2018. This replaces the edition DIN EN 1177:2008, which was subsequently withdrawn. With the publication of the new standard, the nature and evaluation of impact attenuation testing for playground surfaces has changed. Significant changes compared to the previous edition include the additional introduction of gmax 200 as the upper limit for surfacing, in addition to the existing upper limit of HIC 1000, as well as the introduction of a second method for on-site determination.
The two methods differ as follows:
The first method determines the critical drop height to enable the complete and detailed confirmation of the product's suitability range. In this case, a test specimen of the shock-absorbing floor material is tested by the impact from different fall heights using a test head equipped with measuring tools. The signal emitted by the accelerometer at the test head during each impact is evaluated and provides the severity of the injury based on the measured impact energy set as a criterion for the head injuries. The HIC value of each impact is recorded and the critical fall height is determined as the lowest drop height producing a HIC value of 1000 or a gmax value of 200. The selection of the shock-absorbing flooring then takes place depending on the planned play equipment and its free fall height.
The second method describes an on-site drop test which enables the required confirmation of the suitability of the surface for the specific location (with the given free fall height of the installed playground equipment) at the time of the test. This method also allows the evaluation of the suitability of a product in an existing installation at a later stage.
The basis of any suitability assessment should be a test report from an ISO 17025 accredited testing institute or testing laboratory. This ensures qualification, verification and comparability. For example, in accordance with the strict requirements of the current EN 1177, the test report must contain information such as a complete description of the product being tested, the number and date of issue of this European Standard (i.e. EN 1177: 2018), the critical fall height of the tested surfacing, expressed in metres with two decimal places, and an indication of a measurement uncertainty of ±7%.
Children and youngsters rushing here and there, screams of pleasure, high spirits and laughter ‒ as soon as a trampoline park opens its gates, it takes no time at all until the visitors arrive.
DIN 18034 9/2012 "Playgrounds and Open Play Spaces" is now being revised, mainly as a result of the regular review and revision process for standardisation.
