LATEST TECHNICAL NEWS - Declaration of conformity to the standard EN 353-1 and additional tests

We notified our customers in March 2010 that the European Commission had withdrawn the European Standard EN 353-1: 2002 “Personal protective equipment against falls from height – Part 1: Guided Type Fall Arresters Including a Rigid Anchor Line”. This withdrawal followed a formal objection lodged by the UK to the European Commission on the basis that the Standard does not take into consideration all potential fall conditions. This followed the extensive works carried out by the HSE which has resulted in a new series of tests in the UK which have become known as know as the ‘HSE 8 Tests’. We are again please to reaffirm that all Söll GlideLoc Systems have been fully tested in compliance with the requirements of the new UK tests. The EN353-1 withdrawal was published in the European Union’s Official Journal on the 19 March 2010. Since that date a new Standard has been under preparation. During the transition period, in parallel with the UK work, other EU notified bodies have implemented additional tests outlined in the test procedure CNB/P/11.073 to re-evaluate the safety of Fall Protection Systems in accordance with the European Directive 89/686/EEC. We are pleased to inform you that all the Vertical Fall Protection Systems that we currently sell have successfully passed these additional tests and confirm accordingly that these products can be used without restriction. They must of course be used in accordance with their applicable user manuals, and in particular the GlideLoc Travellers must only be used together with their associated GlideLoc anchor rail manufactured by Honeywell and supplied by us. Our user’s safety is always our highest priority. As the world leader in Fall Arrest, our supplier Honeywell participates in the Working Group 2, which is in charge of developing the new European Standard EN 353-1.