Withdrawal of the EN 1836 Sunglasses Standard and its Replacement by Two New EN ISO Standards 12311, 12312

Withdrawal of the EN 1836 Sunglasses Standard and its Replacement by Two New EN ISO Standards 12311, 12312

The long standing EN standard for Sunglasses i.e. EN 1836 Personal Eye Equipment –
Sunglasses and Sunglare Filters for General Use and Filters for Direct Observation of
the Sun is being replaced by the following two standards:

• EN ISO 12311: 2013 – Personal Protective Equipment – Test Methods for Sunglasses and Related Equipment.
• EN ISO 12312 -1: 2013 – Eye and Face Protection –Sunglasses and Related Eyewear – Part 1 Sunglasses for General Use.

NB.   EN ISO 12312 – 2 is in preparation. This standard will apply to filters for direct observation of the sun such as during a solar eclipse. The old EN 1836 standard covered requirements for filters that could be used for direct observation of the sun in addition to normal sunglass filter usage.

BS EN 1836 was withdrawn on the 30th of September 2013.Other conflicting national standards have to be withdrawn by February 2014.

At the time of producing this bulletin EN 1836 is still referenced as a harmonized standard under the requirements of the European Union Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Directive 89/686/EEC. This is a directive that requires use of the CE mark. Sunglasses are classed as Category 1 PPE within the terms of this directive. Informative Annex ZA of EN ISO 12312 – 1 lists the correspondence between the clauses of this new international standard and the Essential Requirements of the PPE Directive. Once EN 12312 – 1 is cited in the Official Journal of The European Union, and it has been implemented as a national standard in any one member country of the EU, a presumption of conformity with the Essential PPE Requirements is conferred.

There are no changes with respect to the responsibilities of manufactures etc. with regard to maintaining a technical file; traceability; showing conformance with health and safety requirements and applying the CE mark. Unlike other categories of PPE, Sunglasses as category 1 PPE do not need the involvement of an EU Notified Body.

There are several technical additions/changes in the new standard such as:

Table 1 in the new standard categorizes Sunglass Filters into descriptive labels i.e.:

Light tint sunglasses Filter Category 0 and 1
General Purpose Sunglasses Filter Category 2 and 3
Very Dark Special Purpose Sunglasses Category 4

There is a requirement in Section 11 of the EN 12312 – 1 with regard to the coverage area over the eye for both adult and children’s sunglasses.

In addition to the minimum robustness of filters, plus frame deformation and retention of filters the following optional robustness tests are included in the new specification:
• Increased Impact resistance of the filters
• Increased Endurance of Sunglasses
• Resistance to Perspiration
• Resistance to abrasion

Section 13 of the new standard in Tables 6 to 8 gives a sequential order of testing for the various requirements of the standard. Also section 13 makes it clear that it is the manufacturers or their authorized representatives’ responsibility to ensure that the requirement of EN 12312 is valid throughout its manufacturing lifetime and not only at its first launch onto the market.

From the EU Retailers point of view one of the key issues is labelling and related information to be supplied with each pair of sunglasses. The standard is allowed to be stated in the form of markings on the frame; or separate information on labels; packaging etc. Information to be supplied with each pair of sunglasses is mandatory as described in Section 12.1 of the new standard. There are too many requirements to list separately in this bulletin. A changed symbol has been added in replacement for the “not suitable for driving and road use” as shown in EN 1836. The new symbol has been extracted from ISO 7000 which is the International Graphical Symbol Standard i.e.

As shown overleaf a new development in the new standard is the use of symbols that are allowed for the various filter categories as an alternative or addition to wording. Symbols are useful in a European context in view of the plethora of languages extant in Europe. With regard to marking the new standard in no way alters the requirement for CE marking of Sunglasses for sale in the European Union.

Section 12.2 of the new standard includes optional information that must be available from the manufacturer on request such as Country of origin; Explanation of any trademarks not universally recognised etc.