Standards, regulations and laws

ZARGES offers you customised solutions for working safely at height. ZARGES products comply with current German national and international standards. Our development and production processes, which have been certified according to DIN EN ISO 9001-2008, guarantee safety and the highest level of reliability, including quality certified according to DIN EN ISO 14122.

• EN ISO 9001: This standard specifies the requirements on a quality management (QM) system. A company will have to adhere to this standard if it wants to show that the company supplies products that comply with the requirements of its customers and the authorities as well as if it is striving to improve customer satisfaction. Consisting of eight chapters, the EN ISO 9001 describes the entire QM system using examples and forms the basis of a comprehensive QM system. More about the quality management standard on Wikipedia.
• DIN EN 131 – Ladders: All ZARGES ladders comply with this standard. It comprises four parts that respectively deal with terms, types and functional sizes; requirements, testing and marking of ladders; safety instructions; and user instructions.
• DIN EN 14183 – Step stools: All ZARGES step stools comply with this standard. It contains information on the standardisation of step stools.
• DIN EN 1004 – Mobile work platforms: A standard concerning mobile work platforms made of prefabricated components – materials, dimensions, load assumptions and safety-related requirements.
• DIN EN ISO 14122 – Safety of machinery, permanent means of access to machinery: A four-part standard that deals with selection of permanent means of access between two levels as well as with work platforms and walkways, steps, stepladders and railings, and fixed ladders.

Legislators have enacted laws to protect employees. Relevant guidelines on the use of access equipment can also be found here. German laws are available online for free at www.gesetze-im-internet.de courtesy of the German Federal Ministry of Justice.

• German Occupational Safety and Health Act [ArbSchG]: This is a German law regarding the implementation of work safety measures for improving the safety and health protection of workers. The German Occupational Safety and Health Act on the internet.
• German Ordinance on Industrial Safety and Health [BetrSichV]: This is an ordinance on matters related to safety and health protection when providing work equipment and facilities that require safety monitoring during operation. It also deals with the organisation of operational safety. The German Ordinance on Industrial Safety and Health on the internet.

As a secondary authority, the German Social Accident Insurance (DGUV) deals with workplace safety and issues obligatory regulations (DGUV Regulations) and information sheets (DGUV Information).

The regulations can be accessed free of charge at www.arbeitssicherheit.de. You can perform in-depth research at http://www.arbeitssicherheit.de/de/html/library/overview.

• DGUV Information 208-016 – Instructions on the proper handling of ladders and step stools: This applies to the inspection of ladders and step stools effective on 1 January 2008. The instruction manual contains the essential content of "UVV Leitern and Tritte (BGV D36)" [English: Accident Prevention Regulation for Ladders and Step Stools] as well as the sections in "UVV Bauarbeiten" [English: Accident Prevention Regulation for Construction Work] relevant to ladders. The DGUV Information 208-016 is likewise applicable across different sectors.
• DGUV Information 201-011 – Instructions on the proper handling work and safety scaffolds: According to the definition of the DIN 4420 standard, work and safety scaffolds are structures that consist of levels of different lengths and widths, are assembled from scaffolding components at the deployment site, are used for their intended purposes, and can be dismantled again.