ISEA is seeking public comments in response to its proposed revision to ISEA 125, Conformity Assessment for Safety and Personal Protective Equipment. First published in 2014, the standard describes three levels of conformity assessment approaches that can be used to demonstrate that specified requirements for safety and personal protective equipment (PPE) are fulfilled. For each level, there are requirements for initial and ongoing testing, quality management, corrective and preventive action, recordkeeping and declaration of conformity.
The proposed revision offers improvements and introduces greater flexibility in an effort to promote wider voluntary adoption. Significant updates are reflected in criteria for Level 2 compliance, use of third-party certification for individual component and materials used in a finished product configuration, and more detailed discussion on the role that risk plays when selecting a conformity assessment practice.
The public review period will be open January 22 – March 8, 2021.
In addition, consensus body members in targeted stakeholder groups are still being accepted.  Participants submit comments and vote on approval of the standard; they are the final authority in determining whether a standard is submitted to ANSI for acceptance as an American National Standard. Consensus panel members are needed in the following categories:
- Producer – A manufacturer of the product covered by the standard or components thereof;
- Government – An agency or department that has a regulatory or other interest in the product;
- General Interest – An organization that has a special interest in this standard due to safety, technical or other requirements or an individual expert with knowledge in the area(s) covered by the standard, but who neither produces nor uses products covered by the standard.
To receive additional information on the ISEA 125 standard and learn how you can become involved, contact Cristine Fargo, ISEA Vice President-Operations and Technical Services.
