The saga continues over the approved safety standards for skull caps from 1st January 2017. Up until a few weeks ago, the BHA approved only PAS 015 2011. Then they agreed that Snell E2001 would also be acceptable.
The situation then took another turn when, consulting with the Turf Club in Ireland, it became apparent that there was a legal obligation to include a European-wide standard, which was not the case with the two already approved. The standards suggested were UTAC/CRITT 04/2015 and VG1 01.040 2014-12.
Previous information obtained by the NTF suggested that certain helmets tested against the UTAC/CRITT standard did not achieve the same level of safety as the PAS 015 standard. Dr Jerry Hill, the BHA’s Chief Medical Adviser, is going to contact the manufacturer to ascertain their plans for testing against other previously approved standards.
You should also take into account that the VG1 01.040 2014-12 standard is likely to be withdrawn next year when the new EN1384 standard is approved in Europe.
So, to summarise, from 1st January 2017, only the following skull cap standards are approved by the BHA:
PAS 015 2011
Snell E2001
UTAC/CRITT 04/2015
VG1 01.040 2014-12