EN 13274-2:2019

Respiratory protective devices - Methods of test - Part 2: Practical performance tests

This document specifies practical performance tests for respiratory protective devices, except for diving apparatus. The purpose of these tests is to subjectively assess certain properties, characteristics and functions of the device, when worn by test subjects in simulated practical use, which cannot be assessed by tests described in other standards.

Atemschutzgeräte - Prüfverfahren - Teil 2: Praktische Leistungsprüfungen

Dieses Dokument legt praktische Leistungsprüfungen für Atemschutzgeräte (ASG) außer Tauchgeräten fest. Diese Prüfungen dienen zur subjektiven Beurteilung bestimmter Eigenschaften, Merkmale und Funktionen des Geräts, wenn es von Versuchspersonen in einem simulierten Praxiseinsatz getragen wird, der nicht durch in anderen Normen beschriebene Prüfungen bewertet werden kann.

Appareils de protection respiratoire - Méthodes d'essai - Partie 2 : Essais pratiques de performance

Le présent document spécifie les essais pratiques de performance relatifs aux appareils de protection respiratoire, appareils de plongée non compris. Les essais décrits sont destinés à fournir une appréciation subjective de certaines propriétés, caractéristiques et fonctions de l'appareil lorsqu'il est porté par des sujets d'essai simulant l'utilisation pratique, qui ne peuvent pas être évaluées par les essais décrits dans les autres normes.

Oprema za varovanje dihal - Metode preskušanja - 2. del: Praktični preskusi zmogljivosti

Ta dokument določa praktične preskuse zmogljivosti opreme za varovanje dihal, razen za potapljaške aparate. Namen teh preskusov je subjektivna ocena nekaterih lastnosti, značilnosti in funkcij naprave, ko jo nosijo testne osebe pri simulirani praktični uporabi, česar ni mogoče oceniti s preskusi, ki so opisani v drugih standardih.

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 13-Aug-2019
• Withdrawal Date: 28-Feb-2020
• ICS: 13.340.30 - Respiratory protective devices
• Technical Committee: CEN/TC 79 - Respiratory protective devices
• Drafting Committee: CEN/TC 79/WG 9 - Test methods and interpretation of CEN/TC 79 standards
• Current Stage: 9060 - Closure of 2 Year Review Enquiry - Review Enquiry
• Start Date: 04-Mar-2025
• Completion Date: 04-Mar-2025
• Directive: 2016/425 - Regulation (EU) 2016/425 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 March 2016 on personal protective equipment and repealing Council Directive 89/686/EEC
• Ref Project: SIST EN 13274-2:2019 - Respiratory protective devices - Methods of test - Part 2: Practical performance tests

Relations

• Replaces: EN 13274-2:2001 - Respiratory protective devices - Methods of test - Part 2: Practical performance tests
• Effective Date: 21-Aug-2019

Overview

EN 13274-2:2019 - Respiratory protective devices - Methods of test - Part 2: Practical performance tests (CEN) defines practical, user‑centred test methods for respiratory protective devices (RPDs), excluding diving apparatus. Its purpose is to subjectively assess properties, functions and wearer interactions that cannot be evaluated by laboratory tests alone. The standard supplements device‑specific standards and supersedes EN 13274-2:2001.

Key topics

• Scope and intent: Practical performance testing of complete RPDs or parts under simulated use to identify issues impacting safe use.
• Pre‑requisites: Test parameters that must be set by the relevant device standard (number of samples, subject selection, device preparation, pass/fail criteria, activity sequence).
• Test subjects: Use experienced wearers; record basic demographic data (name, age, sex, height, weight) and account for national medical regulations.
• Ambient and low temperature conditions: Nominal ambient testing between 20–28 °C with relative humidity commonly stated in the standard (nominal ranges noted in clauses); low temperature tests where required by the product standard or manufacturer.
• Assessments: Subjective feedback during and after activities covering donning/doffing, facepiece comfort, head harness, vision/misting, speech transmission, controls and warning devices, breathing comfort, hose manoeuvrability and other ergonomic factors.
• Activities (examples): Standardized tasks include resting, walking at 3–6 km/h, running (8 km/h for short intervals), crawling in low headroom (≈0.7 m), ladder climbs (total vertical distance 20 m), training gallery passage (≈23 min) and lifting/handling tasks. Activities are continuous and performed without removal of the device.
• Test reporting and uncertainty: Reports must document completion status, activities not completed and reasons, actual temperature/humidity/noise, manufacturer’s instruction clarity and other observations. An estimate of measurement uncertainty should be provided for relevant measurements.

Applications

EN 13274-2:2019 is used by:

• Manufacturers and designers for validating usability, comfort and safety of RPD designs.
• Independent test houses and certification bodies to assess conformity with practical performance requirements.
• Procurement specialists and safety managers (industry, firefighting, emergency response) to compare real‑world usability.
• Regulatory bodies and standards committees as a harmonized method for subjective performance evaluation.

Related standards

• EN 132 (definitions and pictograms for respiratory protective devices)
• Device‑specific RPD standards that reference EN 13274‑2 for practical testing procedures

EN 13274-2:2019 provides structured, repeatable practical testing to identify wearer‑facing issues that affect safety and performance in real use - an essential complement to lab‑based RPD testing.

Standards Content (Sample)

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
01-oktober-2019
Nadomešča:
SIST EN 13274-2:2001
Oprema za varovanje dihal - Metode preskušanja - 2. del: Praktični preskusi
zmogljivosti
Respiratory protective devices - Methods of test - Part 2: Practical performance tests
Atemschutzgeräte - Prüfverfahren - Teil 2: Praktische Leistungsprüfungen
Appareils de protection respiratoire - Méthodes d'essai - Partie 2: Essais pratiques de
performance
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: EN 13274-2:2019
ICS:
13.340.30 Varovalne dihalne naprave Respiratory protective
devices
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

EN 13274-2
EUROPEAN STANDARD
NORME EUROPÉENNE
August 2019
EUROPÄISCHE NORM
ICS 13.340.30 Supersedes EN 13274-2:2001
English Version
Respiratory protective devices - Methods of test - Part 2:
Practical performance tests
Appareils de protection respiratoire - Méthodes d'essai Atemschutzgeräte - Prüfverfahren - Teil 2: Praktische
- Partie 2 : Essais pratiques de performance Leistungsprüfungen
This European Standard was approved by CEN on 17 June 2019.

CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations which stipulate the conditions for giving this
European Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration. Up-to-date lists and bibliographical references
concerning such national standards may be obtained on application to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre or to any CEN
member.
This European Standard exists in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other language made by
translation under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the CEN-CENELEC Management
Centre has the same status as the official versions.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway,
Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and
United Kingdom.
EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION

EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG

CEN-CENELEC Management Centre: Rue de la Science 23, B-1040 Brussels
© 2019 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. EN 13274-2:2019 E
worldwide for CEN national Members.

Contents  Page
European foreword . 3
Introduction . 4
1 Scope . 5
2 Normative references . 5
3 Terms and definitions . 5
4 Pre-requisites . 5
5 Nominal values and tolerances . 5
6 Test methods . 6
6.1 Principle . 6
6.2 Test subjects . 6
6.3 Preparation of test samples . 6
6.4 Ambient conditions . 6
6.5 Low temperature conditions. 6
6.6 Assessments . 7
6.7 Test Report . 8
7 Activities . 8
Bibliography . 13
European foreword
This document (EN 13274-2:2019) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 79 “Respiratory
protective devices”, the secretariat of which is held by DIN.
This European Standard shall be given the status of a national standard, either by publication of an
identical text or by endorsement, at the latest by February 2020, and conflicting national standards
shall be withdrawn at the latest by February 2020.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of
patent rights. CEN shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
This document supersedes EN 13274-2:2001.
The following main technical changes have been made compared to EN 13274-2:2001:
a) Clause 4 amended to include relevant test conditions and the activity sequence;
b) Clause 5 amended regarding the estimation of uncertainty;
c) data for test subjects added;
d) assessment of practical performance amended;
e) test report added;
f) activities for practical performance tests more specified and amended.
According to the CEN-CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organisations of the
following countries are bound to implement this European Standard: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria,
Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland,
Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of
North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the
United Kingdom.
Introduction
This document is intended as a supplement to the specific device standards for respiratory protective
devices. Test methods are specified for complete or parts of devices. If deviations from the test method
given in this document are necessary, these deviations will be specified in the relevant device standard.
1 Scope
This document specifies practical performance tests for respiratory protective devices, except for diving
apparatus. The purpose of these tests is to subjectively assess certain properties, characteristics and
functions of the device, when worn by test subjects in simulated practical use, which cannot be assessed
by tests described in other standards.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content
constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For
undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
EN 132, Respiratory protective devices — Definitions of terms and pictograms
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in EN 132 apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
• IEC Electropedia: available at http://www.electropedia.org/
• ISO Online browsing platform: available at https://www.iso.org/obp
4 Pre-requisites
In order to implement this document, at least the following parameters need to be specified in the
relevant device standard:
— number of samples;
— device preparation;
— any prior conditioning or testing;
— number and selection of test subjects;
— deviations;
— pass/fail criteria;
— identification of activities (by number in Table 1), and duration/repetition if different to those
specified;
— relevant test conditions for each activity e.g. ambient or low temperature;
— activity sequence, if relevant.
5 Nominal values and tolerances
Unless otherwise specified, the values stated in this document are expressed as nominal values. Except
for temperature limits, values which are not stated as maxima or minima shall be subject to a tolerance
of ±5 %. Unless otherwise specified, for the purpose of practical performance testing the ambient
conditions shall be between 20 °C and 28 °C and a relative humidity of between 20 % and 80 %. Any
temperature limits specified shall be subject to an accuracy of ±1 °C.
For each of the required measurements performed in accordance with this document, a corresponding
estimate of the uncertainty of measurement should be evaluated [1]. This estimate of uncertainty
should be applied and stated when reporting test results, in order to enable the user of the test report
to assess the reliability of the result.
6 Test methods
6.1 Principle
Test subjects donning and wearing the device in accordance with the information supplied by the
manufacturer perform activities in simulation of practical use. They are then asked to assess the device
subjectively and comment accordingly.
6.2 Test subjects
Before performing any tests involving human subjects, account should be taken of any national
regulations concerning the medical history, examination or supervision of the test subjects.
Test subjects who are experienced in wearing the type of respiratory protective device being tested
shall be used. The medical condition of the subjects shall be satisfactory for the tasks involved. The
necessity for a medical examination before the tests and for medical supervision during them is at the
discretion of the appropriate responsible person of the test house.
Prior to the tests the following data shall be recorded, but not reported, for each test subject:
— name;
— age;
— sex;
— height;
— weight.
6.3 Prepara
...