In 2012, the European Sunlight Association started the development of a new European Standard on training & service provision in cooperation with CENELEC (one of the main European standardization bodies) and the Austrian Standards Institute (ASI).
This standard (EN16489. 1-3) was developed over a period of three years together with stakeholders such as the European Cancer Leagues (ECL) and the European Association for the Co-ordination of Consumer Representation in Standardisation (ANEC). The standard was approved in 2014 and is currently being implemented all over the EU.
To kick off the implementation of the European Standard in the UK, representatives of the ASI, ESA and The Sunbed Association (TSA) UK met in London to go through the different parts of the standard and decide on how exactly to implement it.
As the standard consists out of three parts, it needs to be decided how each of them will be translated into concrete steps. Therefore the next steps for the UK will be to update their training manual on the basis of EN16489 and carry out a practical testing of trainees according to the new standard until the end of the year. A so-called “mystery check” has already been carried out and was a valuable experience for all participants to see on the spot what exactly needs to be checked and what questions need to be asked to the personnel about the tanning facility itself.
More news on this and other pilot projects in other countries will be found on our news site in the coming months.
