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STANDARD NORMS
PPE EN EQUIPMENT STANDARDS
All products manufactured for sale in the EU as Personal Protective Equipment must comply to one or more relevent product standards. These are all EN or pr EN speci-
fications, and a compliant product should be marked with the EN number, the CE code logotype and the details of the approvals agency. Below is a list of all equipment
specifications relating to height safety PPE.
Work equipment standards: PPE against falls from a height
industrial height safety equipment generally has a standard in this section, and more are being added over time. If an industrial standard exists, then products used AT
WORK must comply to it.
Standard Relates to:
EN341
Descender devices
EN353-1
Guided type fall arresters type 1 : rigid anchorage line
EN353-2
Guided type fall arresters type 2 : flexible anchorage line
EN354
Lanyards
EN355
Shock absorbers
EN358
Work positioning systems
EN360
Retractable fall arresters
EN361
Full body fall arrest harnesses
Standard Relates to:
EN362
Connectors (carabiners, scaffold hooks, etc)
EN363
Fall arrest systems (tested as a complete system)
EN364
Test methods - the standard for how to test products for compliance,
used by manufacturers.
EN365
General requirements for instructions for use, maintenance, periodic
examination, repair, marking and packaging - the standard defining
what labels and instructions must be used on a product, and what the
user is responsible for in terms of maintenance and examination.
EN813
Sit harnesses (industrial abseil harnesses)
EN1891
Low stretch kernmantel rope (semi-static rope)
EN12841
Rope adjustment devices
Mountaineering and climbing equipment standards
many products do not yet have an industrial standard, but there is a ‘sport mountaineering’ version. These mostly come from UIAA specifications, and are no less
stringent. If a product does NOT have an industrial standard, then a mountaineering compliance makes it suitable for use at work. If a product has both, the industrial
standard must be used. The best example of this is connectors - a snap-lock carabiner will comply to EN12275 but fail EN362 (which needs a locking mechanism), and
so it cannot be used at work.
Standard Relates to:
EN564
Accessory cord, safety requirements and test methods
EN565
Tape, safety requirements and test methods
EN566
Slings, safety requirements and test methods
EN567
Rope clamps, safety requirements and test methods
EN568
Ice anchors, safety requirements and test methods
EN569
Pitons, safety requirements and test methods
EN892
Dynamic mountaineering rope, safety requirements and test methods
EN893
Crampons, safety requirements and test methods
EN958
Energy absorbing systems for via ferrata (klettersteig) climbing, safety
requirements and test methods
Standard Relates to:
EN959
Rock anchors, safety requirements and test methods
EN12270
Chocks, safety requirements and test methods
EN12275
Connectors, safety requirements and test methods
EN12276
Frictional anchors, safety requirements and test methods
EN12277
Harnesses, safety requirements and test methods
EN12278
Pulleys, safety requirements and test methods
EN12492
Climber’s safety helmets, safety requirements and test methods
EN13089
Ice tools, safety requirements and test methods
General standards relating to PPE and ropes
standards for equipment that may be used outside height safety, such as fibre ropes and site helmets.
StandardRelates to:
EN397
Industrial safety helmets (site hats)
EN696
Polyamide fibre ropes (laid and braided - not kernmantel)
EN701
General service fibre ropes (natural fibre and other polymers not covered by EN696)
EN795
Anchor devices - requirements and testing (industrial and climbing anchors for any purpose)
EN45014
General criteria for Certificates of Conformity (instructions for manufacturers)
Rescue lifting and climbing standards
Specialist standards for rescue equipment. These can only be used for rescuing a casualty in an
emergency situation, and are not acceptable for normal ‘work’ use unless they also comply to the
relevent industrial standards, so a harness that complies to EN1497 but not to EN361 cannot be used for
industrial fall arrest.
StandardRelates to:
EN1496
Rescue lifting devices (hauling and winching devices)
EN1497
Rescue harnesses (rescue nappies and emergency escape harnesses)
EN1498
Rescue loops (casualty lifting strops)