Technical bulletin

EN 795 Personal fall protection equipment Anchor devices

The European standard relating to the testing of personal fall protection equipment Anchor Devices EN 795 has been updated. The revised standard gives far greater detail on testing and a greater onus on the test method.

An overview of the key changes from the 1996 version of the standard are as follows:

EN 795:2012
1. Deals specically with single-user anchor devices. 2. BS EN 795: 2012 states, Requirements and test methods for multi-user anchor devices, i.e. anchor devices that allow more than one user to be attached at any one time, are provided in a separate CEN Technical Specication. This Technical Specication is CEN/TS 16415: 2012 (see right). 3. States that in recognition of foreseeable misuse, anchor devices intended for fall restraint must be tested for fall arrest. 4. States that U-Bolt clamps shall not be used to form cable terminations. 5. States that static strength requirements have increased: Metallic anchor devices now 12 kN (previously 10 kN) Non-metallic anchor devices now 18 kN* (previously 10 kN). *unless evidence of durability is provided. 6. States that the anchor device shall be tested using construction xing(s) (e.g. clamp) and construction material(s) (e.g. a roong system) as recommended in the information provided by the manufacturer. 7. Claries the requirements for testing a Type C horizontal exible anchor line (ManSafe Horizontal Cable System) which includes the requirements to test in the longest and shortest spans, at intermediate and corner brackets, at a joint in the line and at an entry/exit line tting.

CEN TS 16415
In recognition that horizontal lifelines frequently need to accommodate multiple users a technical specication (CEN TS 16415) has been written to support the new EN 795:2012 standard. The technical specication states: 1. Anchor devices must be compliant with EN 795: 2012. 2. Multi-user devices must now be tested to simulate a minimum of two users falling simultaneously. Latchways philosophy of testing products beyond the minimum standard remains and we welcome the development of the revised EN 795 standard and CEN TS 16415. A copy of the new EN 795:2012 standard can be purchased from the BSI Group website: http://shop.bsigroup.com/ or your local standards organisation.

EN 795 testing of a Constant Force post on a membrane roof

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