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January 14, 2013

Greater protection expected through new electrical-matting standard

The British Standards Institution (BSI) has withdrawn its 1976 standard on the use of rubber mats to safeguard workers from electrical risks.

The standard, BS 921:1976 Rubber Mats for Electrical Purposes, was withdrawn earlier this month, writes Adrian Thorp, a consultant on PPE for electrical hazards. It has been superceded by the International and European standard, IEC EN 61111:2009 Live Working – Electrical Insulating Matting, which has been the current UK electrical matting standard since 1992.

The 1976 standard has been withdrawn as it contains conflicting information with the more recent standard.

It is thought that this move will result in higher-quality products coming to the market, providing increased protection for end-users. The standard requires additional testing for oil, acid and ozone, which are common risks to rubber matting in control-switch rooms, substations and transformer areas.

If you are using rubber matting that claims to offer electrical protection, it is still imperative to carry out a risk assessment to ensure your employees are protected from electrical hazards.

To protect the workforce from electrical risks, the following questions should be considered:

  • Has the product been tested by a qualified ISO/IEC 17025 laboratory?
  • Does the product have a test certificate?
  • Is the product correctly marked with a manufacture and test date?
  • Does the product have suitable and correct packaging (so as to protect the matting from marking)?
  • Does the product have an instructions leaflet enclosed, and if not, are these otherwise available?

The IEC EN 61111:2009 British standard version can be purchased at: http://shop.bsigroup.com/en

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