Meeting high standards
After factory testing, pre-production hats are submitted to BSI or Snell Memorial Foundation (Snell) for independent testing. This repeats all of the procedures explained in the panel on the left. The standards Gatehouse tests to are primarily BSI PAS 015:2011 and Snell E2016, which are considered to set the most stringent assessment procedures in the world. Once hats have passed testing against the requirements of these standards, BSI certifies them in accordance with European Personal Protective Equipment legislation, which permits the manufacturer to use the CE mark. This isn’t a safety standard or quality mark, it’s a mandatory declaration required under European law to show that a manufacturer has complied with all relevant EU directives. BSI-Kitemarked hats also undergo batch testing on randomly selected hats from mainstream production. In addition, twice a year, two hats of each Kitemarked model are randomly selected from warehouse stock and submitted to BSI for testing.
Ongoing testing
Once a hat design has been given the all-clear for manufacture, it’s still subject to regular testing. In addition to any sampling required by BSI or Snell, finished hats are chosen at random from the production line and tested to the relevant standards to monitor quality control and ensure that whether first off the production line, mid-production or last off, all are meeting the required standards. Hats tested to the Snell standard don’t fall within the Kitemark scheme, but Snell buys hats from the marketplace and tests them to ensure ongoing conformity to its standard. “They don’t inform us of this and we don’t know when the testing will occur,” explains Paul. “Our hats must perform as required, however, because Snell has never notified us of any problems.”