European Standards - CEN
The European Union created CEN (Comitč Europečn Normalisation) and CENELEC to become the bodies responsible for drafting Standards for the EU represent the collective EU view. However individual national bodies such as British Standards Institution - BSI (UK), AFNOR (France), DIN(Germany) continue to function. These national bodies in member countries are forbidden to develop their own national standards where CEN standards exist and have to adopt CEN standards once they are published.
Likewise, CEN is expected to defer to international standards, usually interpreted as ISO (International Organization for Standardization) standards.
CEN standards when published in the UK are shown as BSEN standards.
In the UK, all Fitness products are governed by the General Product Safety Regulations 2005 which implement EU Directive 2001/95/EC. The latest revision came into force on 1 October 2005, on the same date that the General Product Safety Regulations 1994 and s10 of the Consumer Protection Act 1997 were repealed. This requires that all products placed on the market are safe and comply with all relevant EU Directives and/or harmonized standards.
In the area of Cardio-vascular fitness these are the Low Voltage Directive (LVD) and the Electro Magnetic Compatibility Directive and the relevant parts of the BSEN957 standards for Stationary Training Equipment. Products that comply with these directives can be marked with the mark. Strength Equipment and Weight Benches only need to comply with the standard, as the LVD and EMC Directives do not apply to these products.
There are 10 parts to BSEN957 depending on the product.
Part 1 – General Safety Requirements and Test Methods
Part 2 - Strength Training Equipment – Stacked Weight M/C’s
Part 4 - Strength Training Benches
Part 5 - Pedal Crank Training Equipment – Bikes – UBE’s
Part 6 - Treadmills
Part 7 - Rowing Machines
Part 8 - Stair Climbers and Steppers
Part 9 - Elliptical & Cross Trainers
Part 10 - Fixed Wheel Cycles – Group Exercise Cycles
Part 1 of the Standard under Usage Classes recognises Class I as equipment provided for inclusive use by people with special needs ( e.g. visual, hearing, physical or learning disabilities). This equipment shall also be in compliance with Class S, (professional and commercial fitness equipment).
The IFI requires that all products accredited to the Stage 2 IFI Standard meet the relevant EU Directives and BSEN standards, for their clients to be confident that the products accredited meet the latest and most robust safety requirements.
