National foreword

This British Standard is the official English language version of EN 355:2002. It supersedes BS EN 355:1993 which is withdrawn.

The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical Committee PH/5, Industrial safety belts and harnesses, which has the responsibility to:

aid enquirers to understand the text;
present to the responsible international/European committee any enquiries on the interpretation, or proposals for change, and keep the UK interests informed;
monitor related international and European developments and promulgate them in the UK.

A list of organizations represented on this committee can be obtained on request to its secretary.

Cross-references

The British Standards which implement international or European publications referred to in this document may be found in the BSI Catalogue under the section entitled “International Standards Correspondence Index”, or by using the “Search” facility of the BSI Electronic Catalogue or of British Standards Online.

This publication does not purport to include all the necessary provisions of a contract. Users are responsible for their correct application.

Compliance with a British Standard does not of itself confer immunity from legal obligations.

This British Standard, having been prepared under the direction of the Health and Environment Sector Policy and Strategy Committee, was published under the authority of the Standards Policy and Strategy Committee on 4 July 2002

This European Standard was approved by CEN on 12 March 2002.

CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations which stipulate the conditions for giving this European Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration. Up-to-date lists and bibliographical references concerning such national standards may be obtained on application to the Management Centre or to any CEN member.

This European Standard exists in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other language made by translation under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the Management Centre has the same status as the official versions.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom.

Foreword

This document EN 355:2002 has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 160 "Protection against falls from a height including working belts", the secretariat of which is held by DIN.

This European Standard shall be given the status of a national standard, either by publication of an identical text or by endorsement, at the latest by November 2002, and conflicting national standards shall be withdrawn at the latest by November 2002.

This document supersedes EN 355:1992. This new edition contains the old text of the standard and incorporates some urgent amendments that are intended to give additional information and clarify inconsistencies. A comprehensive revision of the standard will follow at a later stage.

This document has been prepared under a mandate given to CEN by the European Commission and the European Free Trade Association, and supports essential requirements of EU Directive(s).

For relationship with EU Directive(s), see informative annex ZA, which is an integral part of this document.

According to the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organizations of the following countries are bound to implement this European Standard: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

1 Scope

This European Standard specifies the requirements, test methods, marking, information supplied by the manufacturer and packaging for energy absorbers. Energy absorbers conforming to this European Standard are used as elements or components either integrated in a lanyard, an anchor line or a full body harness or in combination with one of them.

Combinations of an energy absorber and a lanyard are sub-systems constituting one of the fall arrest systems covered by EN 363, when combined with a full body harness specified in EN 361.

Fall arresters are specified in EN 353‑1, EN 353‑2 and EN 360.

2 Normative references

3 Terms and definitions

4 Requirements

4.1 Design and ergonomics

4.2 Materials and construction

4.3 Static preloading

4.4 Dynamic performance

4.5 Static strength

4.6 Marking and information

5 Test methods

5.1 Static preloading test

5.2 Dynamic performance test

5.3 Static strength test

6 Marking

7 Information supplied by the manufacturer

8 Packaging

Bibliography

BS EN 355:2002

Personal protective equipment against falls from a height. Energy absorbers

Current

Published:

4 Jul 2002