The universe of European standards for personal protective equipment against falls

If a piece of personal protection equipment for fall prevention (PPEFP) is produced in line with the harmonised standards, it can be assumed that it meets the necessary safety requirements.But what principle are these standards based on?

To make the system more understandable, we have provided a graphical representation of how the European standards universe works.At its heart is the Regulation (EU) 2016/425 on personal protective equipment.This is then "orbited" by the harmonised standards.

• The outermost orbit path contains the standards for attachment points.
• The central orbit path contains the standards for elements that fit between the attachment point and the parts of the PPEFP that sit close to the body.
• The innermost orbit contains the standards for pieces of PPEFP that are worn directly on the body.

You can find the standards for each group in the fact sheet.For example, EN 353-1 specifies the requirements for guided-type fall arresters including a rigid anchor line (attachment point), EN 355 those for energy absorbers (intermediate element) and EN 813 those for sit harnesses (worn on the body).

You can find further information on the European standards on the Swiss Association for Standardization (SNV)  website and on our Product certification page.