What is BS EN 12927 about?
BS EN 12927 is a European standard on cableway installations carrying passengers to specify safety requirements regarding ropes used. BS EN 12927 includes requirements relating to the prevention of accidents and the protection of workers irrespective of the application of national regulations.
BS EN 12927 specifies the safety requirements applicable to:
- Selection criteria for ropes and their end fixings
- Safety factors (excluding brake ropes)
- Discard criteria
- Storage, handling, transportation, and installation (including tensioning, connecting, and/or splicing)
- Long splicing of 6 strand haulage, carrying-hauling rope, and carrying-hauling rope (for ski-tow)
- End fixings
- Maintenance and the minimum requirements applicable to:
- MRT, visual and radiographic equipment, and procedures for the examination of steel wire ropes.
NOTE: BS EN 12927 is not applicable to cableway installations for the transportation of goods nor to lifts.
Who is BS EN 12927 for?
BS EN 12927 on rail cableway installations is useful for:
- Designers and manufacturers of cableway installations
- Manufacturers of ropes used in aerial cableways
- Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Tourism
Why should you use BS EN 12927?
Passenger ropeways are some of the safest forms of transportation. Safety and confidence in these systems have been achieved by combining technical advancements in design with a strong safety culture within the industry.
BS EN 12927 provides the general requirements on installations of cableways and safety principles and measures to avoid or reduce the risks arising from the hazard scenarios. Selection criteria for the type of ropes and their end fixing used for the cableway installations are given in BS EN 12927. BS EN 12927 provides safety factors for calculation of the tensile safety and discard criteria on the main body of the rope and long splice. Storage, handling, transportation, and installation (including tensioning, connecting, and/or splicing) are mentioned in BS EN 12927. A spliced connection is covered by BS EN 12927 if during operation the tensile safety of the rope does not exceed 20 in the splice area.
Overall, BS EN 12927 aids in the design and installation of aerial cableways by assuring the safety, health, and protection of both the environment and consumers that the equipment must meet during its production and before being placed in service, hence enabling operability and maintainability.
What’s changed since the last update?
BS EN 12927:2019 supersedes EN 12927 Part 1 to Part 8. BS EN 12927:2019 includes some technical changes with respect to EN 12927 Part 1 to Part 8. These include:
- The former parts 1 to 8 have been merged into a single document to simplify orientation in working with the standard. Following this principle, the former paragraph references, normative references, terms and definitions, safety principles have been changed
- Ambiguous or unclear details of the former versions have been rewritten and improved
- Technical developments since the last versions have been adopted to the actual state of the art, e.g., inclusion of optical inspection devices
- Requirements and descriptions in the scope of inspection methods have been improved and extended to details, especially for visual inspection
- Requirements and descriptions for storage, handling and transportation have been improved and extended to details