(For Life-jackets Produced from 2001, onwards) Comprises:

• Carbon dioxide cylinder.
• Water activated powder cartridge.
• Tamper tag, or 'Keep'.
• Sealing O-ring

Packed in sealed plastic bag.

Before fitting, ensure that all corrosion and dirt is removed from the firing mechanism and lubricate with light machine oil, or silicone grease.

Life jackets are made to meet several, different standards; accounting for offshore duty, in-shore duty and assisting buoyancy.

As yet (for recreational purposes) there are no mandatory rules, governing the selection, use or maintenance of Life jackets but those used occupationally should comply with standards designed to ensure:

• Adequate buoyancy for the conditions expected
• Adequate rate of inflation 
• Ability to facilitate securing and lifting wearers by the incorporation of a harness and D-rings for Karabiners.
• Material strength and design of air chambers.
• Visibility at sea.
• Protection from sea-spray (for example: that a hood is incorporated). 

With effect from 1995, the EU required that all life jackets sold must be 'CE' marked. There is a misconception - even amongst some manufacturers, that the CE mark represents a kind of 'Approval' of quality and competence. THIS IS NOT THE CASE.

The CE mark simply confirms that the product has been made, or otherwise, imported by a firm or organisation, registered in a EU state. Registered firms are required to maintain a 'technical file' that holds all details of design, construction and intention. Certain products (not Life-jackets, unfortunately) are classed as Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and PPE falls in to three classes: the lowest, to protect against minor insults and injury; the second class, to protect against hazards which would lead to significant injury, or illness and the third class, to protect against hazards of mortal danger. The latter class demands that PPE is tested by an independent, third party, which will usually refer to a 'European Norme' (we used to have British Standards, instead), or, if there is no widely acknowledged protocol for the product type, then that a test is devised to ensure that the article meets its design criteria.

In the case of Life-Jackets, there are a number of voluntarily applied test standards, such as those demanded for compliance with SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea - an internationally agreed convention, aimed at commercial shipping, ferries and so forth).

More commonly (applied to in-shore and recreational uses), are EN 393, EN 395, EN 396 & EN 399, which categorise Life-Jackets in to four classes of buoyancy, or lifting force, based on the density of pure water, compared with air.
These four classes are, repectively: 50 Newton, 100 Newton, 150 Newton and 275 Newton. There is a fifth class, aimed at buoyancy vests (such as canoeists wear) that suggests 'adequate buoyancy' for an 'average' person whose body mass is 70 Kg.

The usual recommendations for commercial work are: 150 Newton, for in-shore use and 275 Newton, for Off-shore and SOLAS class uses. In other words, EN 396 and EN399 are commended. Further guidance on Selecting Life-Jackets, is available among our free downloads.

Service

Life jackets should be inspected at least annually by a competent person; to ensure the device is properly functional, that materials have not deteriorated and that buoyancy chambers are competent.
It is advisable that the arming mechanism is checked or replaced and that powder cartridge type devices; in any case; have the cartridge and gas cylinder replaced.

There are three, common methods by which Life-jackets are inflated:

• Oral inflation, using the valved inflation tube. This method should not be used other than on deck - certainly not when over-board, in the water.
• Manual inflation, by integral gas cylinder (usually, Carbon Dioxide). This method should not be used where there is risk of being violently knocked in to the water and where the casualty may be thus, unconscious.
• Automatic Inflation, by integral gas cylinder, actuated by an arming device; most commonly based on a spring-loaded firing pin that is released:
  either: when a cartridge of special compound disintegrates on contact with water: or, which is armed by a pressure sensitive device that releases the firing pin, when subject to a water pressure equivalent to being immersed at shallow depth.