Standards

The EEC has developed a range of standards for protective clothing. These ensure that garments meet certain performance criteria to ensure suitability for their designated application. Garments must be marked with the CE logo to indicate they meet these standards. All products sold within Europe as “safety products” must carry such a mark.

For safety clothing and equipment there are three overall categories:-

Category I: Simple products - products not designed to protect against hazards
Category II: Intermediate products - those products not classed as Category I or III.
Category III: Complex products - those products designed to protect the wearer / user from a hazard.

Complex products must undergo a series of exhaustive tests on fabrics and the finished product in order to prove they meet the requirements of the relevant standard. A “CE certificate” is issued by a government approved “Notified Body” allowing the manufacturer to use the CE mark.

All Lakeland coveralls (with the exception of Zonegard) are classed as Category III “Complex” products as they are designed to protect the wearer from chemical hazards.

In the case of clothing designed to protect against chemicals, six “Types” of protection have been identified with standards written for each as follows:-

The
Latest
Standard..?


EN 943-1:2002 - Protective Clothing against liquid and gaseous chemicals, including liquid aerosols and solid particles. Performance requirments for ventilated and non-ventilated: Type 1 - gas-tight, and Type 2 - non-gas-tight chemical protective suits	Type 1 & 2 garments are fully encapsulating suits featuring sealed seams, visors and often integrated gloves and boots. Type 1 suits are fully sealed against the environment, whilst Type 2 suits may not be fully sealed but will maintain a positive pressure from a portable respirator unit or air-line.
Lakeland Products: ChemMAX

EN 14605:2005 - Protective clothing against liquid chemicals. Performance requirements for clothing with: Type 3 - liquid tight, or Type 4 - spray tight connections including items providing protection to parts of the body only. (Types PB[3] and PB[4])	Type 3 and 4 garments generally use chemical barrier polyethylene, saranex or EVOH films and are not breathable. The latest standard requires sealed seams, though see the note about “The Latest Standard..?” above. The difference between Type 3 and 4 is defined by the “Type test” or finished garment test. Whereas the Type 4 sprays the suit with a general liquid spray, the Type 3 suit uses a strong jet spray to test seams and fastenings.
Lakeland Products: ChemMAX, TomteX, MicroMAX TS, Pyrolon CRFR

EN13982-1:2004 - Protective clothing for use against dry particulates. Performance requirements for protective clothing providing protection for the full body against airbourne solid particles.	Type 5 coveralls are designed to protect against solid particles or dusts. Sometimes breathable coveralls such as Safegard 76 provide the best protection against dusts as the breathability means no bellows effect is created.
Lakeland Products: Safegard 76, MicroMAX NS, MicroMAX, PyrolonXT

EN13034:2005 - Protective clothing against liquid chemicals. Performance requirements for chemical protective clothing offering limited protective performance against liquid chemicals (Type 6 and Type PB [6]).	Type 6 coveralls protect against light splashes and sprays of lower hazard chemicals. Three types of fabric are commonly used for this type of coveral: Microporous polyethylene films such as MicroMAX, SMS varients such as Safegard 76 and Flash-spun polyethylene.
Lakeland Products: Safegard 76, MicroMAX NS, MicroMAX, PyrolonXT