Current standards on safety and security
Standards raise safety
That is not empty talk, but a fact. Safety issues run like a red thread through most diverse standards: in the design of machines, the construction of buildings, at work as well as in sports, play and leisure activities.
Requirements and test methods define how an optimum level of safety can be reached.
Most standards regulating safety aspects are issued at the European and/or international level. In many cases, they complement EU directives (Machinery Directive, Low Voltage Directive, Toy Directive, etc.) and the related national legislation.
Thus, they also provide security for companies and importers. Everybody complying with these standards may place their products on the market in Austria and the European Economic Area.
- Credit: ASI prm
Child safety: Protection right from the start
Safety for children is given top priority in standardisation. From changing pads to soothers, from prams to highchairs, from toys to playgrounds - everywhere, standards eliminate risks that cannot be recognised by children themselves without restricting the children’s natural curiosity and desire for exercise.
Standards around child safety (examples)
ÖNORM EN 1400 (three parts): Child use and care articles - Soothers for babies and young children
ÖNORM EN 12586: … - Soother holder
ÖNORM EN 1888: … - Wheeled child conveyances
ÖNORM EN 14988 (two parts): Children’s highchairs
ÖNORM EN 71 (eleven parts): Safety of toys
ÖNORM B 2607: Playgrounds - Planning principles
ÖNORM EN 1176 (nine parts): Playground equipment
- Credit: ASI prm
At work
A yellow safety helmet, warning clothing in highly visible colours, hearing protectors, dust masks, fall protection equipment, gloves preventing cuts and shoes that cannot be penetrated by nails: that is “personal protection equipment” that must be provided by employers, if necessary. The requirements, classification and tests methods are specified in great detail in European and international standards.
Standards promoting safety at work (examples)
ÖNORM EN 166: Personal eye protection - Specifications
ÖNORM EN 143: Respiratory protective devices - Particle filters
ÖNORM EN 352-2: Hearing protectors - General requirements
ÖNORM EN 363: Personal fall protection equipment - Personal fall protection systems
ÖNORM EN 388: Protective gloves against mechanical risks
ÖNORM EN 471: High-visibility warning clothing -Test methods and requirements
ÖNORM EN 13921: Personal protective equipment - Ergonomic principles
- Credit: ASI prm
At machinery
In addition, standards also regulate the safe design and operation of machinery, lay down test methods for measuring noise and vibrations and specify the safety distances and emergency stop devices required.
Rules are also defined for instructions on safe work practices to be supplied by the manufacturers together with their machinery and equipment.
Standards for safe working (examples)
Safety of machinery
ÖNORM EN 614 (two parts): ... - Ergonomic design principles
ÖNORM EN 1093 (ten parts): ... - Evaluation of the emission of airborne hazardous substances
ÖNORM EN 474 (twelve parts): Earth-moving machinery - Safety
ÖNORM EN 792 (13 parts): Hand-held non-electric power tools - Safety requirements
ÖNORM EN 1870 (16 parts): Safety of woodworking machines
Further information Plant and mechanical engineering
- Credit: Schönhacker
If something still goes wrong
If accidents occur in spite of all precautions, standards support rescue and emergency services. The contents of first-aid kits, the marking of escape routes, calling fire fighters and ambulances - all that is discussed in standards.
Likewise, the special equipment of fire fighters - from helmets to clothing, from ladders to respiratory protection equipment and from rescue equipment to fire engines - is specified in detail in European standards. The same applies to fire detectors, the maintenance of fire extinguishers and the equipment to be carried aboard ambulances.
An Austrian speciality: A standard describes how you can rescue persons after electricity accidents without endangering yourself.
Standards for emergency services (examples)
ÖNORM EN 443: Helmets for fire fighting in buildings and other structures
ÖNORM EN 469: Protective clothing for fire fighters - Performance requirements for protective clothing for fire fighting
ÖNORM EN 694: Fire-fighting hoses -Semi-rigid hoses for fixed systems
ÖNORM EN 1147: Portable ladders for fire service use
ÖNORM EN 1846: Fire-fighting and rescue service vehicles
ÖNORM EN 1789: Medical vehicles and their equipment - Road ambulances
ÖVE/ÖNORM E 8351: First aid in case of accidents due to electricity
- Credit: pixelio.de
At leisure
Austria is a highly popular tourism destination, and sports form an integral part of leisure activities. In this field, too, standards ensure safety: for example
by defining the correct setting of ski bindings and
the marking of skiing trails
by ensuring safe rides on surface lifts and aerial ropeways
and by specifying the equipment of bicycles
the reliability of mountaineering equipment
the training of recreational divers as well as
requirements for water slides and swimming armbands.
The same applies to protective equipment that you should definitely use: helmets, elbow, knee and back protectors.
Standards for recreational sports (examples)
ÖNORM ISO 8061: Alpine ski-bindings - Selection of release torque values
ÖNORM EN 1077: Helmets for alpine skiers and snowboarders
ÖNORM EN 1709: Safety requirements for cableway installations designed to carry persons
ÖNORM EN 12277: Mountaineering equipment - Harnesses
ÖNORM EN 13138 (three parts): Buoyant aids for swimming instruction
- Credit: ASI prm
Private property
Standards ensure security at your home. Burglar-resistant doors and windows tested according to the applicable ÖNORM standard keep uninvited “guests” away. Alarm systems complying with the relevant standards reliably chase burglars away.
ÖNORM B 5338: Burglar-resistant windows, doors and shutters
ÖVE/ÖNORM EN 50131: Alarm systems - Intrusion and hold-up systems
Lightning protection systems and smoke detectors protect your belongings against fire.
ÖNORM E 2980: Lightning protection systems - Arrangement of components and mounting dimensions -Examples for performance
What is more: personal financial advisors complying with the International Standard ISO 22222 help you to invest your money wisely and safely.
ISO 22222: Personal financial planning - Requirements for personal financial planners
- Credit: ASI prm
Foresight
Safety is not achieved by chance. Potential risks for employees can be identified through analyses and can be systematically eliminated in the development and design of machinery and tools. The exact approach is described in standards.
These principles can be transferred to entire enterprises and organisations. Systematic risk management can recognise potential threats and develop mitigation measures in due time. Austria has designed a comprehensive body of rules on risk management - from initial analysis to the training of certified risk managers.
For access control, standards specify the technical prerequisites. At present, a European standard on private security services is under preparation.
Risks and hazards (examples)
ON Rules ONR 49000 to ONR 49003: Risk management for organisations and systems
ÖNORM EN 15602: Security service providers - Terminology
- Credit: ASI prm
Data security
Today, data are important business assets. Their loss, manipulation or theft can threaten economic success in the long term. International and national standards help to secure data and protect them against unauthorised access.
Data and web security (examples)
ÖNORM A 7700: Technical requirements concerning the security of web applications
ÖNORM ISO/IEC 27001: Information technology - Security techniques - Information security management systems
