Standardization in the field of personal protective equipment

Contact: Ulrich Bamberg (bamberg@kan.de)

The statutory basis for product standardization of personal protective equipment (PPE) in Europe is directive 89/686/EEC pursuant to Article 114 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). In the context of the directive, PPE comprises "any device or appliance designed to be worn or held by an individual for protection against one or more health and safety hazards". In Germany, this directive is transposed into national law by the 8th Ordinance to the Equipment Safety Act. In order to supplement directive 89/686/EEC with standards, the EU Commission issued three mandates to CEN, which resulted in the development of 320 standards for the field of PPE.

At national level in Germany, PPE standards are mainly developed in the Personal Protective Equipment Standards Committee (NPS), but also in the Precision Engineering and Optics Standards Committee (NAFuO) and the Sports and Recreational Equipment Standards Committee (NASport) of DIN (Deutsches Institut für Normung e.V.). At European level, the majority of PPE standards are drawn up in CEN/TCs 79, 85, 136, 158, 159, 160, 161 and 162 at European level. At international level, PPE standards are developed in ISO/TC 94.

A clear distinction is drawn between the manufacture of PPE products and the use of PPE. The latter is governed by EU health and safety directive 89/656/EEC (a directive pursuant to Article 153 of the TFEU). It is transposed in Germany by the Ordinance on the use of PPE. 

Several projects conducted by KAN

• established the progress made in the field of standardization;
• assessed the level of product-based occupational health and safety in standards;
• revealed a need for revision of standards with regard to product-related occupational health and safety.

The results of these projects have been published as KAN Reports:

• 39: Consideration of time-related performance characteristics of PPE in standards
• 19:Standardization of PPE for protection against electrical risks
• 17: PPE standards in practice (in German)
• 12: Standardization in the field of PPE

For further information on the subject, see:

• KANBrief 3/09: Personal protective equipment
• KANBrief 2/08: Hearing Protection
• KANBrief 4/06: Ageing of PPE: Long-term protection?
• KANBrief 2/02: Focus on PPE
• KANBrief 4/98: Focus on PPE