According to the framework directive on occupational health and safety (89/391/EEC) and the corresponding German OH&S Act, risks to life and health at the workplace must be tackled at source. Individual protective measures, such as PPE, should only be used once design measures have been exhausted. This approach to prevention also forms the basis of generic standardization documents, such as EN 292 and ISO/IEC Guide 51.

Personal protective equipment (PPE) plays an important role in the safety and health of workers at work. Its task is to protect users against health risks during the course of their work. PPE is particularly important when employees are still exposed to a certain residual risk despite suitable technical and organizational measures, or when special activities have to be carried out which put stress on the employee despite the use of preventive measures.

If PPE is not used, this is often due to the fact that the wrong type has been selected. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in particular require guides which take account of the typical hazards and work conditions in specific sectors.

Standards containing requirements for PPE for the field of „risks of electricity“ are prepared by CENELEC/TC 781 in support of PPE product directive (89/686/ EEC). In this context, protection against electrical hazards includes the following

Interview with Mr Mayer

Interview with Mr Korhonen

Regardless of its size, every company wishing to take advantage of the opportunities of the European single market must be familiar with the standards which apply to its products. These are mainly product standards with safety requirements, but also include standards on measuring procedures and test methods in the field of the safety and health of workers at work.

Anyone involved in standardization at European or international level will not be able to ignore the subject of foreign languages. Discussions have to be followed, reactions must be quick and comprehensible, draft standards and statements need translating. This issue presents a selection of generally applicable sources which may come in useful for your everyday standardization work.

The development of a European standard (EN) by CEN currently takes more than six years on average1. CEN reacted to the request of market participants that standards of a high quality be prepared more quickly with comprehensive restructuring measures (cf. KANBRIEF 1/98). The aim of these measures is to optimise European standardization procedures and make them more efficient. This should help to reduce the development time forstandards, for example, something which is particularly welcomed by KAN.

With „Standardization for the 21st century“ as its theme, the 1999 European Standards Conference will take place in Berlin from 15 to 17 May 1999. It is being held by the European Commission (DG III), who is also responsible for the conference agenda. The German Standards Institute (DIN) is in charge of organization (Fax: +49-30-2601- 1738).

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