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Sports equipment as personal protective equipment

Personal protective equipment (PPE) is often associated with professional use. For example, when practicing occupations involving risks. Rightly so? Not quite. Protective equipment for private use, including engaging in sports activities, is also considered PPE. Does your product fall within the scope?

Shin guards for playing soccer, gloves for kickboxing or a helmet for while cycling or skiing. All these products are designed and manufactured with the aim of protecting the wearer from the risks of injury while engaging in a sporting activity. Such products must comply with the requirements of Regulation (EU) 2016/425 Personal Protective Equipment and must be CE marked before they can be traded on the European market.

Essential health and safety requirements

CE stands for Conformité Européenne, a direct translation of which is European conformity. In the case of personal protective equipment, this means that the product must meet the applicable, essential health and safety requirements as stated in the regulation.

To demonstrate a presumption of conformity with essential health and safety requirements, European standards must be used. These standards describe safety requirements for specific types of products. Several standards are available for sports protective equipment.

Manufacturers of personal protective equipment are also required to conduct a conformity assessment procedure. Which procedure must be followed depends on the risk category the product falls under.

Risk categories

Depending on the purpose of use, personal protective equipment provides protection against specific risks. A hard fall on the head has different consequences than a kick to the shin, for example. Risks and the associated possible consequences differ. PPE is therefore divided into different risk categories in the regulation.

Although the regulation provides a general description of the various risk categories based on the level of risk and severity of the consequences, it is often difficult to assign a product to the correct category. The European Commission has therefore prepared a guideline describing specific product groups and the corresponding risk category. Sport protective equipment is generally classified as follows:

Category I:

This category includes sports equipment that protects against such things as bruises, abrasions and minor burns. Examples of such products are boxing gloves and volleyball knee pads. For products in this category, the manufacturer must conduct its own conformity assessment procedure based on internal production control and affix the CE mark to the product.

Category II:

Within this category are equipment that protects the wearer from higher risks such as resulting from collisions with other people or falling while playing sports. Examples include back protectors for mountain bikers and shin guards for while playing soccer. For this category, an EU type examination is also required within the conformity assessment procedure. This inspection must be carried out by an accredited body. After the EU type examination, the CE mark may be affixed.

Need support?

You can find more information on personal protective equipment on our expertise page. Do you need advice on your specific role as an economic operator or your product? Précon Quality Services is happy to advise and support you in identifying and meeting your obligations under Regulation EU 2016/425 Personal Protective Equipment. Feel free to contact us at +31 (0)30 - 65 66 010 or info@precongroup.com.

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