BS EN 50401:2017

What is BS EN 50401- Base station equipment about? 

BS EN 50401 is a safety standard on base station equipment with radiofrequency electromagnetic field exposure limits. 

BS EN 50401 is related to human exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields transmitted by base station equipment in the frequency range 110 MHz to 100 GHz. 

The object is to assess the compliance of such equipment with the public basic restrictions (directly or indirectly via compliance with reference levels) and the workers’ exposure limits values (directly or indirectly via compliance with action levels) when it is put into service in its operational environment. 

Who is BS EN 50401- Base station equipment for?  

BS EN 50401 on base station equipment with radiofrequency electromagnetic field exposure limits is relevant to: 

• Electromagnetic engineers 
• Testing authorities of radio waves exposure 
• Suppliers of base station equipment 

Why should you use BS EN 50401- Base station equipment? 

BS EN 50401 provides fixed equipment including the radio transmitter and associated antenna(s) as used in wireless telecommunications networks. 

BS EN 50401 assists the user with the action levels which are provided for practical exposure assessment purposes and which are derived from exposure limit values. BS EN 50401 also assists with the ambient fields which are the background electromagnetic fields in the frequency range from at least 100 kHz to 300 GHz other than the emissions from the EUT in the frequency range 110 MHz to 100 GHz. 

Overall, BS EN 50401 is useful as it provides guidance on the antenna characteristics (gain, horizontal and vertical beamwidth) for each transmit frequency band, total EIRP, and a detailed description of the configuration of the base station in its operational environment, including antenna system (feeders, connectors, combiners, etc.). 

What’s changed since the last update? 

BS EN 50401:2017 supersedes BS EN 50401:2006+A1:2011, which is withdrawn. 

BS EN 50401:2017 includes the following significant technical changes with respect to EN 50401:2006:  

• BS EN 50401:2017 requires that the assessment must consider all foreseeable operating conditions (Clause 4) 
• BS EN 50401:2017 covers equipment intended for use only by workers as well as equipment intended for use by the public and different limits are given for each case (Clause 5)