nouvelles de l'entreprise What Does "HIC Certified" Actually Mean for Your Playground?

If you specify, buy or install surfacing for children's play areas, three letters matter: HIC — the Head Injury Criterion. It is the standard measure used around the world to judge whether a surfacing material will protect a child's head in a fall.

The idea behind the test is simple. A weighted headform is dropped onto the surface from a set height, and the acceleration of impact is measured. The results are expressed in two ways:

• HIC value: a combined measure of impact severity. In playground standards, an HIC below 1,000 is the accepted safety threshold.
• g-max: the maximum deceleration during impact, measured in multiples of gravity. The limit is 200 g under ASTM F1292.

Two standards dominate playground surfacing around the world:

• ASTM F1292 (Standard Specification for Impact Attenuation of Surfacing Materials within the Use Zone of Playground Equipment) is the reference standard in North America. It sets both the HIC (≤ 1,000) and g-max (≤ 200) limits and is used to determine the critical fall height of a surface. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission also references ASTM F1292 in its guidance for indoor play areas.
• EN 1177:2018 (Impact Attenuating Playground Surfacing — Determination of Critical Fall Height) is the European standard. It determines the critical fall height — the height of equipment fall from which the surface still keeps HIC below 1,000. For example, a surface certified to EN 1177:2018 with a critical fall height of 1.9 m is suitable under equipment with that fall height or lower.

Why it matters for your project: compliance is not optional for most commercial, school and public playgrounds — in many markets, surfacing must be certified before a playground can open. And the critical fall height must match the tallest equipment on site.

This is where certified interlocking safety puzzle pads earn their place. Because performance is thickness-dependent, a factory-tested puzzle pads gives you a predictable, documented HIC result.

A certified puzzle pad is only as good as its installation. Lay puzzle pads on a firm, level base, keep the joints tight and re-check the surface after repairs or seasonal movement.

Our interlocking playground puzzle pads are HIC-tested. Request the test report for your fall height