The European Commission has proposed to replace two EU Directives governing the safety of personal protective equipment and cableways installations with directly applicable regulations. This means that 56 pieces of national legislation - piling up to several hundred pages - will be scrapped, as part of a concrete step by the Commission to make it easier to conduct business in the EU.
The idea is that businesses will only need to consult one single piece of legislation in each area, which will also be available in their own language. It will make life easier for companies marketing industrial products in the EU market while at the same time ensuring that the legislation continues to guarantee a high level of safety.
The proposal relating to personal protective equipment (PPE) includes changes to increase safety for personal protective equipment for private use that provides protection against heat, damp and water.
It widens the scope of the laws governing PPE to include PPE for private use in addition to those for purely professional use. This means that mass produced PPE – such as cycle helmets - available to all customers, will also be covered by the new rules.
The proposal for cableways installations will improve the functioning of the EU's internal market for the safety components and the subsystems of cableway installations. Taking into account technological progress in this area, the proposal covers the development of new installations intended for both transport and leisure activities. However, cableways for purely leisure purposes (for example those in amusement parks and fair grounds) are exempt.
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