The Labor Inspection Secretariat issued TECHNICAL NOTE 146/2015 / CGNOR / DSST / SIT, clarifying issues related to the validity of the PPE and the validity of the CA.

            In the Technical Note, the understanding is maintained that an PPE can only be marketed with a valid CA, but the PPE can be used within the validity of the product (informed by the manufacturer), as long as it has been purchased with the Valid CA. The Technical Note fully complies with the understanding of the subject defended by Animaseg many years ago, in particular, the effort made recently by its

Board of Directors.

The full technical note follows (transcribed and attached):

PPE Validity: TECHNICAL NOTE No. 146/2015 / CGNOR / DSST / SIT

Interested: GENERAL COORDINATION FOR STANDARDIZATION AND PROGRAMS Subject: Clarifies issues related to the validity of PPE and the validity of the PPE Approval Certificate.

1. This is a clarification about the validity of Personal Protective Equipment – EPI and the validity of the Certificate of Approval – CA.

2. Personal Protective Equipment are devices or products, for individual use, to be used by the worker, intended to • protect against risks likely to threaten safety and health at work, when collective and / or administrative measures are not sufficient to eliminate or minimize the risks to which workers are exposed.

3. For a given product to be considered personal protective equipment – PPE, it is necessary to obtain the Certificate of Approval-CA, issued by the Ministry of Labor and Employment – MTE. Only equipment listed in Annex I of Regulatory Standard (NR) 06, which provides for individual protection equipment, will be considered PPE for the purpose of issuing AC, as determined in item 6: 4

6.4. Given the peculiarities of each professional activity, and observing the provisions of item 6.3, the employer must provide workers with the; Appropriate PPE, in accordance with the provisions of ANNEX I of this NR. (emphasis added)

4. Other equipment or products may also be used to protect workers and are essential for the performance of their tasks, however, if not listed in Annex I of NR-06, they will be considered only safety products for work, without MTE certification, the designation “personal protective equipment” does not apply to them. Among these, for example, are sun protection creams and some types of clothing, indispensable for the safe execution of work, but not certified by the Ministry of Labor and Employment.

5. In compliance with the provisions of NR-06, the manufacturer or importer of PPE must register with the Department of Safety and Health at Work of the MTE to request the approval, renewal or alteration of the Certificate of Approval – CA, and must comply with a Series requirements established by Ordinances S1T 451/2014 and 452/2014. Among the documents necessary for the issuance of the CA, configure documents in which the manufacturer or importer guarantees and proves that the PPE was designed and manufactured in accordance with the requirements necessary to protect the risks for which they were indicated.

6. For certification with the MTE, the EPI must have its characteristics and performance recorded in a test report, issued by a laboratory accredited by the MTE, or in conformity certification, issued in function of an assessment under the scope of SINMETRO. The equipment tested in accredited laboratories will have certificates of approval issued with a maximum validity of 05 years. The equipment evaluated in the scope of SINMETRO will have the validity of the CA conditioned to the maintenance .of the certificates of conformity issued together with INMETRO. 7. Thus, one must distinguish the use of the term “validity” `which is` applicable to two different concepts, namely the validity of the product and the validity of the CA.

7. Thus, one must distinguish the use of the term “validity” which is applicable to two different concepts, namely the validity of the product and the validity of the CA.

8. The first concept refers to the validity of use, applicable to any product, as provided by the Consumer Protection Code, which establishes that all products sold must contain on their labels, among other information, an indication of the expiration date, this being the deadline that the supplier guarantees its total effectiveness and quality, provided that the handling and storage instructions are followed. This information must appear on the product even if the indication of the expiration date is undetermined.

9. The second concept of validity refers to the term of certification granted to the equipment by the Ministry of Labor and Employment, that is, the CA, which authorizes a manufacturer or importer to market a specific PPE, and authorizes employers to make available this same .EPI to its workers. `This certification is provided for in the CLT as follows: Article 167 – Protective equipment may only be offered for sale or used with the indication of the Ministry of Labor’s Certificate of Approval.

10. In turn, Regulatory Standard 06 (NR-06) provides, in item 6.2, that MTE certification must be indicated in all PPE:

6.2 – Personal protection equipment, whether manufactured domestically or imported, may only be offered for sale or used with the indication of the Certificate of Approval – CA, issued by the competent national body in matters of safety and health at work of the Ministry of Labor and Job.

11. In these legal provisions, there is, then, the definition that, for use and also for marketing purposes, it is necessary to indicate the CA issued by the Ministry of Labor and Employment.

12. For commercialization purposes, and only commercialization, stipulates NR-06 what:

6.9.1 For marketing purposes, the CA granted to PPE will be valid: a) 5 (five) years, for equipment with test reports that • have not been assessed for conformity within the scope of SINMETRO; b) the period linked to the assessment of conformity within the scope of SINMETRO, when applicable.

13. Thus, in addition to the indication of the CA number, the commercialization of the PPE is linked to the CA’s validity of the equipment: conditioned to the maintenance of the conformity certification; for PPE certified within the scope of SINMETRO, or up to 5 (five) years, for other PPE.

14. The validity of the CA, therefore, which begins to run after the issuance of the certificate by the MTE, serves as a parameter for manufacturers, importers and distributors to negotiate that certified equipment with the final consumer, which is the employer, who will supply the PPE to the workers. . Compliance with the validity of the CA is, therefore, necessary in the purchase and sale of the PPE, either by the manufacturer / importer or by the distributor. The employer, the final consumer, must also pay attention to the expiration date of the CA in the acquisition of PPE for his workers, considering that, as `established in NR-06, it is his obligation to provide only PPE certified by the MTE.

15. For the purpose of using the PPE, provided that it is acquired within the validity period of the CA, `the useful life indicated by the manufacturer must be observed, according to • the characteristics of the Composition materials, the use for which it is intended, the usage limitations, storage conditions and use itself. Observation of this The use validity is, therefore, of the employer who will provide the PPE to his workers.

16. After the expiration date of the CA, provided for by item 6.9.1 of NR-06, the manufacture and sale of new batches of PPE with marking of the expired CA are prohibited, since either the product did not obtain its renewal with the MTE or the conformity assessment of the product was disapproved within the scope of SINMETRO. The prohibition of commercialization, in this case, is of extreme importance, since, after the expiration of the CA, it is necessary to reassess the project and form of production of the PPE in order to verify the maintenance of the quality of the equipment to ensure that they continue to provide the necessary level of security and protection.

17. Therefore, the use of PPE, marketed during the validity of the CA, is not prohibited, since, at the time of its acquisition, the certification with the MTE was valid. In other words, after the final acquisition of the PPE with a valid CA, the employer must pay attention to the validity of the product informed by the manufacturer, and no longer to the validity of the CA. Then, the employer acquiring the – EPI, before making it available to the worker, observe the manufacturer / importer’s instructions contained in the packaging and in the product’s instruction manual to determine its validity.

18. Finally, previous agreements contrary to the provisions of this note, in particular Technical Note 101 / 2Q10 / DSST, are canceled.