Changes to product standards

David Lummis looks at the introduction of new ISO global standards and the
implications for UK manufacturers and purchasers

European Norm (EN) Standards formally enshrine how a
product should perform against known hazards and are
a critical part of the operation of the safety industry
throughout the European Union to ensure workers receive
adequate and practical protection. These standards can be
adopted by national bodies, for example in the UK as BS EN’s
and, by law, all Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) used in
occupational safety within the UK must be approved to a
relevant EN Standard and carry the correct CE marking.

EN Standards have been in force for many years and are regularly
amended or revised to ensure they remain relevant. Standards
are drafted and maintained by a wide ranging group including
users, technical experts, manufacturers and distributors to ensure
the products maximise protection whilst remaining practical to
manufacture and affordable to purchase.

In recent years new ‘Global’ standards under the International
Standards Organisation (ISO) have been introduced. Recent
examples have been in clothing and the latest to be developed is
for Respiratory Protective Equipment (RPE).

However, it is starting to look like this ideal of globally
accepted standards may not be realised with some countries
considering remaining on their old standard. With the new
standards likely to impose more stringent test requirements
leading to increased testing and approval costs, it puts the
countries or regions that do adopt the new ISO’s at a commercial
disadvantage.

In some cases there is no real evidence that current EN
standards are not protecting workers adequately, as long as the
equipment is correctly used. The new ISO standards may
introduce higher specification ideals but in the process they may
remove some of the practicality of producing the PPE at cost
levels acceptable to its market. If the ISO standards, with more
stringent tests are adopted, the higher test costs will inevitably be
passed on to the consumer, presenting the very real prospect that
less PPE will be purchased and used because the price has risen.

Another potential outcome is that less knowledgeable purchasers
will be driven towards the ever increasing range of counterfeit
and illegal products purporting to be PPE, as they appear to offer
an opportunity to save money.

To compound this situation, Europe through the Vienna
agreement, has undertaken to immediately adopt any new ISO
standards and replace the existing CE standard, which becomes
obsolete. This means that European and therefore British
companies may be forced to adopt the more stringent testing
requirements of the new ISO standard, while other worldwide
manufactures can avoid the additional costs. The situation is
further complicated when the new PPE Directive comes into
force in a couple of years’ time. It is very likely that CE approval
certificates will be time limited to 5 years, which will mean all
products will need to be retested to the new standard within that
time frame. A very expensive and time consuming project that
will stretch test house facilities to the limit.

The BSIF understands the need to update standards to meet
changing requirements and to ensure that the workforce is
protected. We actively support and are leading contributors to
revisions of this type. However, where the adoption of new
standards cannot demonstrate a quantifiable improvement in
safety but will result in increased testing costs, our belief is that
the increase in costs will reduce the use of PPE in the workplace,
compromising worker safety. Our recommendation is that any
new standards should not be adopted without extensive
consultation and potential revision.

Adding cost without adding benefit by satisfying a
theoretical improvement in performance is not good safety
practice, nor is it good business practice. We should focus on
areas where improvements to safety will bring strong benefits
and improve education and training, which means that
correct usage of existing products, will quickly result in
improvements to prevent
long term harm.