Consultation: Personal Music Players

Standards EN 60065:2002/A12:2011 and EN 60950-1:2006/A12:2011 are considered to fulfill the safety requirements laid down for personal music players by means of Decision 2009/490/EC. The references of these standards shall be published in part C of the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU).

Products which will be in compliance with these standards as from the date of publication in the OJEU will also be presumed to be in compliance with the gernal safety requirements of the GPSD (2001/95/EC).

Background

By means of Decision 2009/490/EC, the European Commission had laid out safety requirements for personal music players so as to ensure that under reasonably foreseeable conditions of use, they are inherently safe and do not cause hearing damage.

In particular, the safety requirements stipulate that:

· Exposure to sound levels shall be time limited to avoid hearing damage. At 80 dB(A) exposure time shall be limited to 40 hours/week, whereas at 89 dB(A) exposure time shall be limited to 5 hours/week. For other exposure levels a linear intra- and extrapolation applies. Account shall be taken of the dynamic range of sound and the reasonably foreseeable use of the products.

· Personal music players shall provide adequate warnings on the risks involved in using the device and to the ways of avoiding them and information to users in cases where exposure poses a risk of hearing damage.

By means of the proposed draft Decision, Standards EN 60065:2002/A12:2011 and EN 60950-1:2006/A12:2011 are considered to fulfil these safety requirements and to comply with the general safety requirement of Directive 2001/95/EC. The proposed draft decision also stipulates that the references should be published in the Official Journal of the European Union. This will mean that from the date of publication onwards, products which are in compliance with the above mentioned standard will be presumed to comply with the GPSD.

By the end of the transition period (i.e. 24 January 2013), industry should have started to apply this standard to their products.

What will be affected?

This draft Commission Decision applies to personal music players and mobile phones with a music playing function.

Dates

Feedback to be received by the 16^th August 2011.

Comments to be sent to the Regulatory Affairs Directorate, Technical Regulations Division, Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority by post or by e-mail –