Winter 2018

BS EN 1022: 2018 Furniture - Seating - Determination
of stability
The standard came into effect as a British Standard
on the 30th November 2018 and replaces the
previous 2005 standard.
This is a major update of the previous standard,
which was specifically for domestic furniture. The
new standard now covers all types of seating and
incorporates test methods for office swivel chairs
which were previously covered in other standards
(BS EN 1335-3: 2009 Office furniture. Office work
chair. Test methods and BS EN 581-2: 2015 Seating
and tables for camping, domestic and contract use.
Mechanical safety requirements and test methods for
seating respectively).
Non-domestic tables and desks / office desks
ISO 9241-5:1998 Ergonomic requirements for office
work with visual display terminals (VDTs) -- Part 5:
Workstation layout and postural requirements
Work has started on the revision to Part 5 of the
series. In order to completely overhaul this standard
to match the needs of today’s offices and work
practices, a survey of “task based workstations” and
the appropriated requirements for products in use at
these workstations was devised.
Revision to EN ISO 9241-6 Environmental factors
of the VDT workplaces will follow once this work is
complete.
Key changes to note:
• Introduction of a new test method assessing the
corner stability of seating has been introduced;
• Introduction of a new test method for seating with
raised side edges that are not considered arms has
been added;
• A requirement that all swivel seating (including
those intended for domestic use) require a rearwards
stability test with 130 kg load – previously domestic
seating only required 110 kg.
It is expected that over the coming years other
seating specification standards will be updated to
include references to EN 1022: 2018.
Non-domestic / office storage
ISO 7171 Furniture – Storage units - Determination of
stability
The document has been submitted for FDIS with
main changes in relation to:
Definitions and figures have been added; Table 1
Loads for stability testing has been moved into the
body of the standard (previously in an informative
Annex); test descriptions have been clarified;
revision to informative Annex A providing guidance
on loads and forces for different applications and
an informative Annex B on the purpose and the
applicability (rationale) of test methods.
For further details on the work of the Furniture
Industry Research Association visit www.fira.co.uk
www.cfasuk.co.uk WINTER 2018
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