DEFINITIONS EN 365

European Norm EN 365 specifies the minimum general requirements for the use, maintenance, periodic inspection, repair, marking and packaging of PPEs. Main definitions (from EN 365):

PERIODIC INSPECTION

The regular carrying-out of detailed inspection of PPE or other equipment to check for the presence of defects or wear.

COMPETENT PERSONS FOR PERIODIC INSPECTIONS

A person who is aware of current requirements for periodic inspection, of the manufacturer’s recommendations and instructions issued for the relevant component, subsystem or system.

1. This person should be able to identify defects and assess their severity, should initiate corrective action and have the capacity and resources to do all this.
2. It may be necessary for the competent person to receive a specific training from the producer or from his representative on specific PPEs or other equipment, for instance due to their complexity or innovative nature, or where it is fundamental to have technical under standing for their disassembly and re-assembly or for their assessment. Such training may need to be updated after modifications or improvements.
3. A person may be competent to carry out periodic inspections on a particular model of PPE or other equipment or competent to inspect several different models.

MAINTENANCE

The maintenance of PPE or other equipment in a safely working condition through preventative actions such as cleaning and appropriate storage.

PRODUCER

The constructor, his authorised representative or the person responsible for assembly, where appropriate, for the design, test and commercialisation of the component, subsystem or complete system made available for sale. Note: for PPE, it is the producer who owns the CE test certificate.

NOTES

The producer develops the instructions for use, for maintenance and for periodic inspections for each PPE in the official languages of the destination country.

Periodic inspections may be carried out only by a competent person who adheres in full to the producer’s instructions for such inspections.

Repairs, where possible, must be only carried out by the producer or by persons expressly authorised by the producer, adhering strictly to the producer’s written instructions.