Moulders are frequently used for planing and moulding work on wood. The occupational health and safety technology department (Fulda) of the Kassel Regional Council measured very high noise emission values on a machine of this type. The high values were blamed upon the underlying standards. A KAN working group has compiled proposals for the action to be taken.

An accident in March 2004 involving a revolving door at Cologne-Bonn airport, in which a child died, triggered comprehensive action within specialist circles in Germany to improve the safety of automatic door systems. Work was halted on the European prestandard prEN 12650, which was considered highly unsatisfactory. Instead, DIN 18650 will be reissued in Germany in heavily revised form.

Should reasoned objections presented by OH&S experts concerning requirements in product standards be ignored, the formal objection is the final instrument available to ensure that, in the interests of user health and safety, the essential requirements of European Single Market directives are transposed. The example of „mobile cranes” demonstrates that the formal objection is a difficult, not to say lengthy process.

Slipping accidents often arise through an unfavourable combination of factors: shoe soles, floor surfacing, and a friction-reducing medium such as water or oil. In order to facilitate the selection of suitable shoes and floor surfacing for the workplace, it is advantageous for their anti-slip properties to be classified, for example in standards. This task, already difficult, will be exacerbated in future by differences between the test concepts for shoes and floors in the European standards which are currently being drafted.

NoRA is a tool which can be used free of charge to search for standards of relevance to occupational health and safety. A further search option has now been added: ”ErgoNoRA” provides detailed search facilities for standards in the area of ergonomics.

The Central Institute for Labour Protection – National Research Institute (CIOP-PIB)1 is the main research institution in Poland comprehensively dealing with the problems of improving working conditions in accordance with human psychophysical abilities. One of its most important branches is the Department of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).