CE-STANDARDS
The Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) directive (89/686 EEG) was implemented in the Community on July 1, 1995. It dictates which kind of PPE is needed in different situations, how the garments should be designed, produced and how user instructions should be made.
Personal Protective Equipment is not only garments, but also helmets, breathing apparatus and all kinds of things used to protect the enduser from a specific risk.
The standards are written to help the manufacturers meet the directive and give the manufacturer detailed instructions on design, colour performance etc. One example EN 471, the standard for High Visibility garments, gives information about minimum areas of high visibility material and reflectives on each garment.
Categories
Personal protective equipment is divided into three different categories depending on complexity and the risk that the garment is protecting against.
CATEGORY 1: Garments with kneepads and other basic protection where the risks of injury are slight and the user himself can determine which protection is required.
CATEGORY 2: The majority of personal protective garments, such as winter garments for use in temperatures between -5 and -30°C. The risks of injury are higher than in category 1.
CATEGORY 3: Fall protection systems and garments for extremely dangerous situations.
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