Consumer Council Tests Life jackets Again

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30895, 30 October 1965, Page 23

Consumer Council Tests Life jackets Again

The Consumer Council wants to give the public an authoritative guide for lifejackets and a further series of jackets has been tested against an accepted standard.

The Consumers’ institute tested lifejackets in 1961 and 1962 and the results of this work aroused wide interest. It was established that several types on sale did not meet minimum safety requirements. After those tests, the Standards Institute convened a committee to prepare a standard specification for lifejackets, other than those used in commercial vessels and aircraft, and that was promulgated in 1963. Most lifejackets are now being made to that standard. Briefly, the standard requires the jacket to bring the wearer to an inclined backward position with head and face out of the water and maintain him in that position for at least 24 hours. The standard also required each lifejacket to be rated for its intended use (adult, medium child and small child) and sets the minimum buoyancy for each of the ratings. The minimum requirements for materials and construction are also laid down. To undertake the tests in time for printing the results in the December, 1965, issue of “Consumer” the jackets were purchased direct from the factory, a departure from the normal habit of buying anonymously at retail level. However, it is unlikely that the tests suffered in objectivity or impartiality as care was taken to select all jackets from the shelf at random. Seven different designs were selected from three manufacturers, and two models of each were purchased.

One was given to the council's flotation authority who, in a heated swimming pool, tested the jackets’ ability to bring the wearer to the required position with his head and face clear of the water. Some jackets failed this basic test and one actually turned the wearer face down in the water.

The other jacket was given to the laboratory which tested material strengths and other physical properties of the jacket. The Consumers’ Institute will continue to interest itself in this work and will not be satisfied until it is sure that every jacket on sale in New Zealand is 100 per cent safe.