The new standards have arrived

The new standards have arrived

24 July 2019 Off By Facto Edizioni

/ by Gianni Chiari /

Following the issuing of the new European standards on the safety of rides, EN 13814:2019, ANCASVI has discussed the new scenarios for the sector.

Gianni Chiari /  Member of CEN/TC 152, ASTM F 24, ISO/TC254 Technical Committees 

At the end of May, during the annual general meeting of ANCASVI – the Italian association of ride manufacturers, bringing together almost all of the Italian sector – a meeting of technicians from the member companies was also held to present and discuss the new European standard series EN 13814:2019 on the safety of rides. A standard series that has been awaited for many years now, and that finally on 29 May CEN, the European Committee for Standardization, made available to technical standardization bodies in member states. In Italy, the event was particularly welcomed, as through UNI, the Italian Standardization Body, for over 20 years now the country has held the European secretariat of CEN/TC 152, the technical committee responsible for the preparation of technical safety standards regarding rides.

The new technical standards include many new aspects, and at the meeting the main ones were illustrated by the Italian technicians who contributed to their drafting through participation in the European working groups, namely Gianni Chiari, technical secretary of ANCASVI and member of CEN/TC 152 since 1988, together with his colleagues Aldo Avancini, Simone Bernardini, Bruno Bonazzi and Alessandro Peluso.

EN 13814:2019 is divided into 3 parts: 

  1. EN 13814-1:2019  Safety of amusement rides and amusement devices – Design and manufacture
  2. EN 13814-2:2019  Safety of amusement rides and amusement devices – Operation, maintenance and use
  3. EN 13814-3:2019  Safety of amusement rides and amusement devices – Requirements for inspection during design, manufacture, operation and maintenance

How and when will it be adopted? Available to CEN national bodies on 29 May, the new technical standard series must be adopted by 30 November 2019, while EN 13814:2004 (which it replaces) must be withdrawn by 31 May 2022. There will thus be a period of 30 months in which both standard series will be in force, so as to make the transition smoother and more gradual. 

“EN 13814:2019 brings with it very important new scenarios, both for the industry and for safety,” commented Gianni Chiari immediately after the meeting. “We will work on these aspects so as to clarify and better investigate the opportunities available to the sector, as well as any problems. Today at the meeting we discussed a series of problems and clarifications that will need to be brought to the attention of all of our international colleagues, relating to design, new criteria, the safety of rides (already quite considerable) and their certification, that is, guaranteeing safety over time through checks and inspections. All of these problems need to be analyzed, discussed and organized in order to have an approach that is as uniform as possible internationally. We should not forget that Italians export more than 95% of their products throughout the world, so for us this is an important aspect.” As a result, it was also decided to restore the ANCASVI Technical Commission (reserved for technicians of member companies), which will shortly prepare a plan and start the detailed work. 

Taken from Games&Parks Industry July 2019, page 90

Gianni Chiari /  Member of CEN/TC 152, ASTM F 24, ISO/TC254 Technical Committees and “Una Giostra per Tutti” project manager.  info@technicalservices.it