CEN and ISO Standards for Protective Clothing Against Heat and Fire

The European Standardisation Committee (CEN) was commissioned by the European Community (EC) to elaborate a number of standards, among them standards for protective clothing against heat and fire. The EC-directive 89/686 stipulates only the basic requirements personal protective equipment has to satisfy. Harmonised standards defining technical safety requirements have to be set up at the European level to put these basic requirements into more concrete terms. The paper deals with the safety-relevant stipulations of European (EN) and International (ISO) standards for protective clothing against heat and fire; it provides information about the test methods used and about compliances between EN- and ISO-standards. The author compares safety requirements defined in EN-standards with those prescribed by the EC-directive and points out standardisation deficiencies.