Answer given by Mr Tajani on behalf of the Commission
Bicycles helmets are subject to the provisions of Directive 89/686/EEC on personal protective equipment (PPE Directive)(1). This directive is a so-called New Approach Directive which means that harmonisation is limited to essential health and safety requirements while technical specifications are set out in harmonised standards developed by the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN). In particular, EN 1078:1997 Helmets for pedal cyclists and for users of skateboards and roller skates and EN 1080:1997 Impact protection helmets for young children provide presumption of conformity under the PPE Directive.
In 2005, the Commission carried out an inquiry involving Member States and CEN in order to explore how children could be better protected.
In the course of 2005, CEN adopted two amendments to the above referred to standards adding additional elements for the marking requirements:
— EN 1080:1997/A2:2005 Part 6 Marking, point h, reads: ‘Warning! This helmet is fitted with self-release retention system designed to release under certain loading conditions in order to avoid possible strangulation/hanging. It may come off in a severe crash.’
— EN 1078:1997/A1:2005 Part 6 Marking, point h, reads: ‘Warning! This helmet should not be used by children while climbing or doing other activities when there is a risk of strangulation/hanging if the child gets trapped with the helmet.’
Further it could be concluded from the information the Commission received that the safety characteristics of the helmets are appropriate in their respected field of application but problems may occur in case of inappropriate selection of the helmets for their use.
This is mainly due to the following reasons:
Helmets designed according to standard EN 1078 are suitable for bicycle riding as the standard provides for a chain strap that is not designed to release above a certain force. In other words the helmet stays in place in case of a severe crash in order to protect the skull.
Standard EN 1080 was originally designed for helmets to be used at playgrounds and it provides for a chin strap that releases above a certain force in order to prevent serious injury or fatal accidents due to strangulation. In other words the helmet is designed to disengage from the head.
Therefore, the Commission wrote to the Member States and the Chairman of the Notified Bodies in order to draw their attention to the fact that it was standard EN 1080:1997 that had to be applied if presumption of conformity was required under the PPE Directive for helmets for children where there was a risk of strangulation.
Since then, the Commission has not become aware of any fatal accidents in the field. Nevertheless the Commission will discuss this topic again with PPE stakeholders including CEN in order to see the magnitude of the issue that the Honourable Member raised.
As regards key lanyards, the Commission has published on its website information on the strangulation hazards posed by clothing strings, loose items and other hanging items in the playground(2). According to this information, parents are advised to remove clothes with cords or strings, necklaces, long earrings and loose items in pockets before the child enters in the playground.
Furthermore, in 2008 the Commission co-financed a joint market surveillance action to assess the safety of playground equipments in seven Member States and raise awareness of parents, landscape designers, municipalities and schools to ensure that children can play safely in playgrounds.
(1) Council Directive 89/686/EEC of 21 December 1989 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to personal protective equipment, OJ L 399, 30.12.1989.
(2) http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/reports/rights_child_safety_prod.pdf.. See also
http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/10/98&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en
http://www.eurosafe.eu.com/csi/eurosafe2006.nsf/0/ABAD24D81CFF6937C125718500337AFB/USD file/Playground%20equipment.pdf
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getAllAnswers.do?reference=P-2010-3179&language=EN
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