What is ISO 12402‑6 about?
ISO 12402‑6 is sixth in the series of documents on personal floating devices. ISO 12402‑6 specifies the safety requirements and additional test methods for special application lifejackets and buoyancy aids (hereafter named PFD) for adults, children, or infants. ISO 12402‑6 is intended to be used in conjunction with ISO 12402‑2:2020, ISO 12402‑3:2020, ISO 12402‑4:2020 and ISO 12402‑5:2020, as applicable.
Who is ISO 12402‑6 for?
ISO 12402‑6 on personal floatation devices is useful for:
- PFD manufacturers
- PFD designers
- Private or public swimming pools
- Leisure resorts
- Lifeguards
Why should you use ISO 12402‑6?
PFDs provide various degrees of buoyancy in garments that are light in weight and only as bulky and restrictive as needed for their intended use. They need to be secure when worn, to provide positive support in the water and to allow users to swim or actively assist themselves or others.
ISO 12402‑6 provides you with safety requirements and test methods for user-assisted PDFs and application-specific PFDs that are necessary to consider ensuring that it is of the right size and has enough buoyancy to support the wearer in the water and prevent the wearer from drowning in a body of water.
ISO 12402‑6 serves as a guide to manufacturers, purchasers, and users of such safety equipment in ensuring that the equipment provides an effective standard of performance in use.
By using the requirements and test methods provided by ISO 12402‑6 you can improve the quality of special application PFDs by increasing reliability and durability, and the in-water performance of the PFDs, hence ensuring the safety of swimmers.
What is changed since the last update?
BS EN ISO 12402‑6:2020 supersedes ISO 12402‑6:2006. BS EN ISO 12402‑6:2020 has some technical changes. These include:
- Complete structure modified. New clauses for requirements for user-assisted PFDs (Clause 6) and requirements for application-specific PFDs
- New definitions for application-specific PFDs,
- Amendment of Table 1, for loads and durations for tensile test of white-water PFDs
- New Table 2, for loads and durations for tensile test of swift water rescue PFDs