Recently, CEN-CENELEC established a new CEN-CENELEC Joint Technical Committee, CEN/CLC/JTC 23 Horizontal topics for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). The scope of the committee is the Standardization of deliverables covering more than one type of PPE product.

As the purpose of the Horizontal Joint Technical Committee will not be product specific, it is intended to standardize the following horizontal topics (although the list below is not exhaustive):

  1. Maintenance and/or adoption of standards and/or other CEN/CENELEC - ISO/IEC deliverables developed in the past by CEN-CLC JWGs or by ISO bodies not mirrored in CEN.
  2. Dual function PPE
  3. Integration of smart textiles/electronics or (other) wearables
  4. Ensembles/ Personal Protective Systems (PPS)
  5. Focus on specific sectors or hazards
  6. Sustainability in PPE
  7. Ergonomics & comfort of PPE systems

The JTC has yet to establish its working group structure; information on the TC is available here. During the preparation of the proposal for the JTC, Centexbel expressed its interest in leading the work on "Integration of smart textiles/electronics or (other) wearables". 

We have submitted our candidature to take up this committee in our portfolio of mirror committees, which is currently under evaluation by the NBN.

Experts interested in more information or in joining the mirror committee are welcome to contact Karin Eufinger.