Safety is of particular importance in gyms and sports halls. This applies not only to school sports but also to club and competitive sports. Serious injuries must be avoided and safe and appropriate sports facilities must be provided. The walls of the sports hall are very important in this regard. Since they often come in contact with sports equipment and athletes during sports activities, they must meet certain requirements and standards.

The walls of a sports hall must be at least 2.70 m high and smooth. Any unevenness and splintering must be removed. In addition, they must not be rough, as this could lead to skin injuries during sports activities. The walls are usually covered with Impact protection surface systems for walls made of wood, plastic, glass or fabric. Above all, this is important to prevent injuries, but also to avoid material damage and provide noise protection. Walls and Impact protection surface systems meet various normative requirements and standardised specifications. In Germany, the relevant standards are DIN 18032-1, 18032-3 and DIN 18032-7.

The standards are developed in a special working committee with a panel of experts and adopted by consensus. The whole process is overseen by the European Committee for Standardisation or the German Institute for Standardisation, and the standards are then published as reference works by a specialist publisher for a fee. A standard is reviewed every five years to ascertain whether any amendments are required.