Requirements for high-performance industrial helmets.
EN 14052 covers helmets with higher performance than standard industrial helmets, and the impact tests are intended to reflect this.
EN 14052: 2012 high-performance industrial helmets.
EN 14052 covers helmets with higher performance than standard industrial helmets, and the impact tests are intended to reflect this. Tests are carried out using similar apparatus to that used by EN 397 – a free-falling striker dropped onto the helmet mounted on a fixed head form – but with significantly higher impact energy, as well as with impacts carried out on both crown and front, sides & rear of the helmet.
Specifically, crown impacts are carried out with an energy of 100 J (5 kg mass dropped approximately 2.04 metres), and off-crown impacts are carried out with an energy level of 50 J (5 kg mass dropped approximately 1.02 metres) with the head form inclined at angles of 15°, 30°, 45° and 60°.
For the off-crown impacts, assessment is made not by the use of a load cell mounted below the head form, but by a uni-axial accelerometer mounted on the striker carriage itself – the acceleration in this accelerometer cannot exceed 300 g (2943 m/s2) for a helmet to be considered acceptable.
This test is carried out on several helmet samples, following preconditioning to high temperature, low temperature, water immersion and UV ageing. There is also the option to expand the temperature range for the preconditioning if claimed by the manufacturer.
Penetration For high-performance helmets, the conical striker penetration test used in EN 397 is replaced with the flat blade striker test used in EN 443 (firefighter helmets). A blade striker (of total mass 1 kg) is dropped onto the helmet from a height of 2.5 metres (crown impacts) or 2 metres (off-crown impacts), with no contact between the striker and head form allowed. As with the impact testing, this is carried out on helmets pre-conditioned to high temperature, low temperature, water immersion and UV ageing.
Design Requirements
Most specifications for protective helmets include a number of requirements for the design of a helmet in addition to the specific performance requirements. These typically encompass the area of coverage provided by the helmet, as well as the field of vision afforded to the user when worn. They can also cover a number of ergonomics and safety-based requirements, such as clearance between the head and the shell of the helmet (particularly in the case of industrial helmets).
