Public consultation on the establishment of a new CEN-CENELEC Joint Technical Committee Horizontal topics for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

A proposal to create a new Joint Technical Committee (CEN-CLC/JTC) Horizontal topics for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) has been made by BSI.

The scope of the proposed Technical Committee includes standardization of deliverables that are encompassing more than one type of PPE product. As the purpose of the Horizontal Joint Technical Committee (JTC) will not be product specific, its intention is to standardize in the following Horizontal topics: 

• Maintenance and/or adoption of standards and/or other CEN/CENELEC – ISO/IEC deliverables which in the past were developed by CEN-CLC JWGs or by ISO bodies not mirrored in CEN
• Dual function PPE
• Integration of smart textiles/ electronics or (other) wearables.
• Ensembles/ Personal protective systems (PPS)
• Focus on specific sectors or hazards
• Sustainability in PPE
• Ergonomics & comfort of PPE systems

Purpose and justification

Placing work items that cover more than one product in a horizontal CEN-CLC/JTC would ensure that the subjects are treated in a neutral way and not given a potential imbalance by placing them under the lead of one of the products TCs. Stakeholders in the horizontal neutral JTC are experts from different product TCs as well as experts familiar with different sectors/ hazards. Quite often the latter are users of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), which are lost in PPE product TCs as these focus on one part of the ensemble only and not the complete set.

The horizontal JTC will not produce specific product standards but deliverables encompassing horizontal matters (so valid for different types of PPE not only one type). The horizontal JTC’s deliverables will be implemented within the specific product TCs according to their scope.

This horizontal JTC would also mirror the horizontal topics dealt with under ISO/TC 94 directly which are not being dealt with in the product TCs of CEN.

In case of national interest, Bulgaria can support the creation of a new Joint Technical Committee (CEN-CLC/JTC) Horizontal topics for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). If the creation of the new CEN/TC is accepted by the CEN members, BDS should create or supplement a mirror technical committee at the national level.

Anyone interested in the topic can send an opinion on the need to create this new Joint Technical Committee (CEN-CLC/JTC) to the responsible expert Radoslav Bachvarov, at radoslav.bachvarov@bds-bg.org  phone: +359 2 81 74 577 by 11.07.2023.