CONSUMER PRODUCTS AND RETAIL E-SSENTIALS

EU: CEN publishes EN 71-14:2018

JANUARY 2019 - Relevant for: TOYS AND CHILDREN'S PRODUCTS

On 12 December 2018, the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) published a new version of toy standard EN 71-14:2018¹ for the safety of trampolines for domestic use. The Members of the CEN have to adopt the new standard and publish their own national version no later than 30 June 2019.

The major revision of the standard is the addition of buried trampolines in the scope. Buried trampolines are currently on the list of requiring type approval. Once the standard EN 71-14:2018 is published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU), instead of submitting the buried trampolines for type examination by a Notified Body, testing according to this new standard can give presumption of conformity to the Toy Safety Directive.

The changes to the new EN 71-14:2018 are summarised below.

1. In clause 1, the scope “Trampolines for domestic use buried at ground level” is removed from the exclusion list as buried trampolines are now included in the new standard.
2. The definition of “enclosure” in clause 3 has been modified; and the following definitions are added: “buried trampoline”, “raised buried trampolines”, “ground-levelled trampoline”, “non-buried trampoline”, “skirt”, “jumping area” and “collapse”.
3. Criteria of “trampoline categories” has been modified and moved from subclause 4.2 to clause 4.
4. Under subclause 5.2 – General requirements for the trampoline construction (General requirement moved from clause 4 to clause 5), the following revisions have been made:

1. Instead of mini-trampolines intended for indoor use only, all mini-trampolines are now required to be provided with anti-slip feet;
2. New requirements are added for “raised buried trampolines” and “ground-levelled trampolines”
3. For “non-buried trampolines”, specific skirts that comply with the newly added requirements can now be used;
4. For “raised buried trampolines”, the zone between the mat and the ground shall be enclosed.

5. Two new exemptions have been added in clause 5.3 – Durability of materials. Hot-galvanized parts with a surface treatment thickness ≥ 50 microns or that are treated according to the requirements of EN ISO 1461 can be exempted from the requirements.
6. Under subclause 5.4 – Entrapment, the following changes have been made.

1. The finger entrapment requirement has been modified from any rigid openings accessible during bouncing to only those located 1 m or more above the mat (measured from the centre of the mat)
2. The head and neck entrapment requirement has been aligned to EN 71-8:2018 for activity toys.

7. The requirements for buried trampolines have been added under subclause 5.10 – Mat deflection.
8. Added a new subclause 5.12 – Tool for assessing a correct hole depth for buried trampolines.
9. Clause 6 – Warnings, markings and instructions (moved from clause 5 to clause 6) has been revised. Major revisions include the addition of warning for buried trampolines and removal of several required warnings.
10. Under clause 7 – Test methods (moved from clause 6 to clause 7), the following changes have been made:

1. Added a clarification in subclause 7.1.2 – Enclosure and poles impact strength test. The entrance shall be enclosed during testing and the figure has been modified;
2. Some minor changes have been made to subclause 7.4 – Testing of the assembly;
3. In subclause 7.5 – Durability tests, test method for buried trampolines’ metallic parts in contact with soil has been added;
4. Revision has been made to subclause 7.6 – Mat deflection test including the addition of the test for buried trampolines;
5. Newly added a clause 7.8 for retaining wall system test.

11. In Annex A, revisions have been made to the rationales on scope, general, enclosures, durability of materials, mat deflection and warnings and markings on the product. A new rationale on skirt has been inserted to prevent children, animals or objects end up under the mat.
12. Annex ZA – relationship between the standard and the essential requirements of the Toy Safety Directive has been updated according to the standard revisions.
13. Under Bibliography, only kept Australian standard AS 4989:2015, Trampolines for domestic use — Safety aspects.

[1] EN 71-14:2018