Industrial Safety Helmets [Jan 2004]
Certification and testing
Industrial Safety Helmets
Certification and testing
What is PPE?
PPE is all kinds of protective clothing which protects the user against most risks that occur during activities. There are two different groups of PPE; professional use and private use. PPE for professional use would include industrial safety helmets, high visibility clothing, welding masks, etc. PPE for private use would be things like bicycle helmets, buoyancy aids and inline skate protectors. PPE always falls under the directive for PPE 89/686/EEC. In this directive there are all the requirements that PPE has to fulfil to offer the necessary protection to the user depending on the different activities and the different eventualities.
The Directive 89/686/EEC
Products that fall under the directive for PPE 89/686/EEC have to fulfil all the requirements laid down in this regulation before they can be brought to the European market. The Directive addresses the safety requirements as well as the conditions concerning the trade in the European market. The Directive lays down the basic safety requirements for all kinds of PPE which have to be fulfilled. Whereas this Directive defines only the basic requirements to be satisfied by PPE, in order to facilitate proof conformity with those basic requirements it is essential that harmonised European standards be available relating to PPE, since compliance therewith confers on these products a presumption of conformity with the above mentioned basic requirements. A control of the products keeping the technical requirements is necessary to protect the user and others.
Basic safety requirements laid down in the Directive
- Design principles
- Innocuousness
- Comfort and efficiency
- Information supplied by the manufacturer
- Additional common requirements for several PPE kinds or types
- Additional requirements specific to particular risks As the definition of these basic requirements is very general there are the European harmonised standards to prove if the product complies with the relevant requirements of the directive.
Categories The directive differs between three categories:
- Category I: minor risks
- Category II: medium risks
- Category III: high risks
Category I
Category I products offer protection against minor risks that the user can foresee and where the effect occurs gradually and the user might be able to avert the effect. The manufacturer only needs a declaration of conformity to place his product into the European market. He can do the necessary tests by himself or with any laboratory and does not need an EC type approval certificate.
Category II
Category II PPE protects against middle risks. In this case the manufacturer needs an EC type approval certificate to bring the product into the European market. This would cover PPE that protects against injuries that might be severe but not lethal and are mostly reversible. The necessary tests and the EC type approval certificate can only be done by a Notified Body.
Category III
The third category offers protection against high risks, where the user is not able to recognise and prevent the danger and which protects against lethal or irreversible risks. In the case of category III products the manufacturer needs an EC type approval certificate and an annual inspection of the manufacturing plant. An annual test of the product is mandatory.
Certification
All category II and III products need an EC-type approval certificate (also called CE-Certificate) to participate in the free trade in the European market. The EC type approval test is the procedure in which the Notified Body establishes and certifies the accordance of the product to the relevant regulations of the directive. The conformity with the regulations will be proved by applying the relevant European harmonised standards. In the case of the industrial safety helmet it is EN 397. After positive test results the certificate can be issued. This test is only a single test of the product that has been sent to the test house. Assuming that the entire production will be done in the same way that the test sample has been made it is in all probability that these products will meet the requirements too. This is the so called principle of conformity. Therefore the certificate stays valid as long as there are no modifications to the product or any changes to the manufacturing plant. Any modification of a certified product has to be reported to the test house which made the certification. The test house will check if retests or spot check tests are necessary to keep the certificate valid.
In addition to the EC type approval certificate the manufacturer can voluntarily apply for the German GS-mark if it is a category II product (GS-mark is not possible for category III products). The GS-mark stands for constant quality in production. The manufacturers can show to their customers that they care about quality management. The requirements are laid down in the German "Gerätesicherheitsgesetz". Normally no additional tests are necessary, although a factory inspection will be made. During this factory inspection, which occurs once a year, the required quality management steps are checked or a retest of the product will be conducted to prove the quality and the accordance with the PPE directive. With an annual check manufacturers are relatively sure that fluctuation in production will not lead to a fail of basic requirements. Furthermore, products for which the GSmark is applied for always comply with the newest standards because the test house has to inform the manufacturer about changes in technical standards which are relevant to the product.
Testing Industrial Safety Helmets
Industrial helmets are category II products. To bring this product into the market the manufacturer needs an EC type approval certificate. The relevant standard for industrial helmets is EN 397+A1:2000. If a helmet complies with this standard it also complies with the general requirements of PPE directive 89/686/EEC. The test house will check the product according to the requirements of the standard and the directive and will issue the EC type approval certificate after a completely positive result.
What kind of protection does an industrial safety helmet offer?
An industrial safety helmet is designed to protect the wearer against falling parts and prevent him from injuries to the brain or a fractured skull. The helmet is not meant to protect the wearer against injuries resulting from a fall of the user and that is what makes the product different from nearly all other helmets and head protection. Almost every head protection in the form of a helmet has an EPS-layer to absorb the energy of an impact; but not the industrial safety helmet. The principle of protection is a cradle which springs into a free space between cradle and outer shell. Sometimes industrial safety helmets do have a thin EPSlayer to increase the impact capacity.
Construction
Regarding the main protection aim, such a helmet needs special construction to absorb the energy of an impact. Normally an industrial helmet consists of an outer shell made of different kinds of plastic like ABS, PC, HDPE, etc, and a harness. The harness consists of a headband system which includes a neckband with which the size of the helmet can be regulated. Fabric straps adjust the harness perfectly to the users head and fix it comfortably to the head. The safety principle is for this mechanism to spring into an empty space between the head and outer shell. Therefore it is very important for manufacturers to keep to the requirements concerning the measure of the distances between harness and outer shell. The result of disregarding this would be a direct impact to the head and serious injuries. If the helmet has an additional EPS-layer it is fixed internally to the outer shell. This layer could give additional protection in case of very severe accidents.
Impact capacity
There are several requirements defined in the standard EN 397 which relate to the distances between the harness and test head form and the outer shell to give the helmet the space to be springy without touching the head. It is important that the shell does not come into contact with the wearer's head. A falling mass hits the helmet and the resulting force to the test head is measured. The tests are conducted in different conditions such as after artificial ageing with UV light, in the heat (+50°C), in the cold (-10°C) and after submerging the helmet to simulate different weather situations as well as environmental influences like sunlight to the plastic material. The force transmitted to the head form shall not exceed 5,0 kN. A falling mass of 5kg falls from a height of 1000mm onto the helmet which is fixed to a rigid test head form. The test is repeated in the different conditions. At the moment of impact this equates to an energy of 49J.
Penetration
A great danger in the area where the wearing of industrial safety helmets is mandatory is the risk of penetration. If a falling object such as a piece of wood with a nail in it in a building site hits the worker, his helmet should protect him from injuries by the penetrating nail. Therefore the standard defines a test in the same conditionings as the impact test with a special penetrator to simulate such a situation. The test head form should not be reached or damaged by the penetrating mass. To prove this ability a falling mass of 3kg in the form of a cone is made to hit the helmet, which is fixed to a test head, from a height of 1000mm.
Flame resistance
An industrial helmet must be resistant against flames. Therefore a flame of 45mm in length is put against the helmet for 10 seconds. The materials of the shell should not burn with the emission of flame after a period of 5 seconds has elapsed after removal of the flame. Usually only a stain remains after testing, but if the material strength is too low the flame can burn a hole in the helmet and come into direct contact with the head causing burns to the worker.
Additional requirements
As well as those mentioned above there are some additional requirements regarding special circumstances in work places which have to be fulfilled to offer full protection to the user. These may include very high temperatures, very low temperatures, electrical insulation, deforming of one side of the helmet and metal splashes. It is extremely important to choose the correct helmet for your field of work. The manufacturer should inform the test house to widen the tests regarding the additional features of the PPE. These additional features must be listed in the labelling so that the user can always see if his product is suitable for the intended activity or not.
Design
There are many different designs of industrial safety helmets in the market. Some look like cowboy hats, some have a shaded transparent peak and some are made of special materials. These features often come as a direct consequence of the working requirements the helmets have to fulfil so there are a great variety of products on the market. The manufacturers have freedom in the design stage as long as their products meet the requirements. An important design feature is that damaged parts can be exchanged easily and without special tools to avoid a damaged helmet being used because the user is not able to change the damaged parts.
Size and correct fit
A safety helmet can only protect the intended wearer if the PPE fits correctly. If the size of the helmet is not correct he might loosen it or the helmet might slip from the correct position on the head. In this case protection cannot be provided by the product. Therefore it is very important to choose the correct size or to follow exactly the user information supplied by the manufacturer regarding the fitting of all PPE. It is imperative for the manufacturer to provide the helmet with a user manual.
A helmet can only protect if it fits properly and if the helmet has the necessary features for the working requirements. Most injuries occur because of the fact that the user has not fixed the helmet correctly. Therefore it is very important to bring the product to the market with detailed user information. The user manual has to describe all the steps to adjusting the helmet and against which risks protection is offered. It should be of great interest to the manufacturer to submit his products with detailed user information to avoid misuse and to help in using PPE in the correct way so that injuries can be avoided. The more information a manufacturer supplies with the product the less the liability in case of accidents or misuse.
It may come as a surprise that most users of industrial safety helmets do not use the chin strap system on their helmets. With a chin strap system the helmets can be better fixed to the head, but increase the risk of strangulation. So the fastening device must release the chin strap at a defined force. The chin strap system has to resist a pulling force of 150 N, but has to release at a force of no more than 250 N, when the chin strap anchorage(s) should fail. This requirement is obviously to avoid strangulation if the worker gets trapped. During testing thehelmet is fixed to a test head form with an artificial jaw. Then force is gradually applied to the chin strap system. If the anchorage point of the chin strap system withstands the force of 250 N the helmet will not pass the test.
Innocuousness
All PPE brought into the European market that comes into contact with human skin has to be free of materials or substances which can cause any harm to the user. These are minimum requirements and the manufacturer has to prove that the product meets the requirements by test reports. In the case of the industrial helmets these requirements especially apply to the fabric straps of the cradle, the sweat band and the chin straps. Furthermore, for the purposes of recycling, the product must not exceed a content of > 100 mg/kg Cadmium.
Marking
Every helmet has to be marked with some relevant information. This information should include at least the name of the manufacturer or his authorised representative in the European Community, the type designation ( important when parts have to be exchanged, due to wear and tear), name of the relevant standard, date of manufacture, size range, material specifications and the additional requirements if applicable as well as the CE-mark. In the marking of the helmet the user should be able to see which risks the helmet protects him from. Therefore it is vital to have the marking legible for the lifetime of the PPE. A lot of manufacturers do not see the importance of this information for the user. But think how important it is for wearers of industrial helmets to know whether they are protected against electric current, or if the helmet offers protection against liquid metal splashes, etc.
User manual
After purchasing an industrial safety helmet it is essential to read the information supplied by the manufacturer thoroughly. In this information the manufacturer must describe all steps concerning the use, correct fit and maintenance of the helmet. The user manual shall also give all relevant information concerning additional requirements to ensure the proper use of the PPE and therefore to guarantee the necessary protection. It is vital to provide the user with detailed information to avoid misuse, and therefore serious injuries. The manufacturer should also stress the danger of removing or modifying the original parts or the helmet. Every modification to the helmet might lead to a loss in protection!
Replacement
The helmet is made to absorb the energy of a blow by partial destruction or damage to the shell and the harness, and even though such damage may not be readily apparent, any helmet subjected to severe impact should be replaced. Often users cannot evaluate the danger of being hurt by using PPE that has already been exposed to a severe impact or anything else that might reduce the protection offered. Furthermore it would be irresponsible to expect the user to estimate when a helmet has to be exchanged due to ageing. Therefore the manufacturer should give information concerning the estimated period of use of the PPE.
Employers should always be aware of their duty to protect their employees against injuries during their occupation. Only PPE that fits and applies to the relevant standard can offer full protection. It is also the duty of the user to wear the PPE correctly according to the information supplied in the user manual. Injuries can only be avoided if both sides are aware of the risk.
The TÜV Rheinland/Berlin/Brandenburg Group is a private independent organisation with over 7,300 employees in more than 150 locations throughout the world.
Human safety, technical progress and a better environment are the central objectives of all the Group's activities.
Our competent, highly qualified experts are always close at hand to provide a wide range of consultancy, research, inspection and monitoring services to support partners from the government, industry and commerce.
The work performed by the company focuses mainly on environmental protection, safety engineering, quality management, traffic safety and energy technology.
Christiane Reckter, Personal Protective Equipment, Am Grauen Stein, D-51105 Köln, Germany
Web: http://www.tuv.com/safety . Tel: +49 221 806 2647
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