Marking of protective clothing in accordance with international standards

Abstract

Background. Product marking is an integral part of the assessment of compliance and the important need of all market participants who are interested in reliable information. In 2017, 15 normative documents on individual protection means (clothing, footwear, means of protection of hands) identical to the current international and European normative documents were put into operation.
Taking into account the introduction of new normative documents and the fact that this type of clothing is extremely important for the protection of human life and health, the issue of its marking is particularly acute.
The aim of the work is to analyze new requirements for the marking of protective clothing in accordance with international standards.
Material and methods. The research is based on the methods of scientific knowledge, systematic approach and generalization, analysis of legislative and regulatory documents.
Since SSU EN ISO 13688:2016 [1] sets only general requirements and requirements for the marking of clothing of certain protective properties are specified in the normative documents on specific type of clothing, the requirements for protective clothing for use during welding and related processes were analyzed [2].
Results. The Technical Regulation on individual protection means [6] determines general provisions of the current legislation of Ukraine regarding the assessment of the conformity of personal protective equipment, which includes protective clothing. The requirements of this document cover the scope of distribution, classification by category of protection, conformity assessment pro­cedures, putting into circulation and rules for marking of the protective clothing.
Requirements for the marking of protective clothing are set out in SSU EN ISO 13688 2016 [1], which is intended only for use in combination with other standards that contain requirements to the specific protective properties of the product, rather than on an independent basis.
SSU EN ISO 11611:2016 [2] specifies the provisions of SSU EN ISO 13688:2016 [1] concerning products, name, sizes, protective properties, requirements for use. Since SSU EN ISO 13688:2016 can not be applied without taking into account the requirements of other standards, it should not be given as a single marking on any protective clothing, regardless of whether it is affixed to the icon or not (the basic security symbol).
As to the information requirements provided by the manufacturer in the operating instructions or in the information sheet, the EN ISO 13688:2016, in contrast to SSU EN ISO 11611:2016, contains general product requirements for a list of tests to be performed by the user prior to use, recommendations for trying on, instructions for proper use of the product to prevent the risk of injury, storage and maintenance with indication of the maximum period between maintenance checks, instructions for recognizing wear and loss of operational properties of the product.
SSU EN ISO 11611:2016 [2] specifies the provision of EN ISO 13688:2016 in the chapters on warning about the danger of improper use and on user information regarding the procedure for cleaning.
Conclusion. Today's realities encourage Ukrainian manufacturers to introduce European standards that also relates to the protective clothing. An analysis of the provisions of the normative documents adopted in Ukraine and in the world regarding the marking of protective clothing allowed to reveal that the general requirements for such marking are contained in SSU EN ISO 13688:2016 "Protective clothing – general requirements". However, there are also specific requirements that are contained in separate regulations on a specific type of protective clothing, which has its own marking information symbols that indicate the way of exploitation of this product.