Are there safety standards for bollards?

Currently, there are no set safety standards around the use of bollards at industrial facilities, however there are a range of guidelines and codes of practice that refer to the use of bollards. These include:  

• Traffic Advisory Leaflet 02/13 
• PAS 13 
• PAS 68 
• PAS 170-1 

While not all of these are directly related to the use of bollards in industrial facilities, it is worth looking at them if you require bollards for additional protection issues.  

What is Traffic Advisory Leaflet 02/13?

Created by the UK’s Department for Transport, the Traffic Advisory Leaflet 02/13 covers the topic of ‘Bollards and Pedestrian Movement’ in outdoor areas occupied by the public. It is primary focused on the use of Vehicle Security Barriers (VSBs) as used to prevent vehicle-borne terrorist threats and how that impacts on the way pedestrians navigate those areas that use bollard systems.  

It is based on a range of findings gathered from different studies conducted at a range of busy sites. The main thrust of the leaflet is focused on how bollards impact: 

• The rate at which pedestrians can pass through an area 
• The amount of comfortable space available for pedestrians to move freely 
• The convenience with which pedestrians can follow their desired routes 
• Conflicts that occur in the area, i.e. pedestrians colliding with each other, sudden changes of direction, etc.  

Industrial Safety Bollards and Publicly Available Specifications

Publicly Available Specifications or (PAS) refer to documents created by the British Standards Institution (BSI). These specifications are codes of practice which refer to the best way to apply a product, service, or process. It is a form of standardisation though it is not legally enforced.  

There are a range of PAS which refer to the uses of bollards. 

What is PAS 13?

PAS 13 is the code of practice for safety barrier application and testing. It was created to standardise the use of safety barriers within industrial settings, specifically for traffic management. In addition, it provides guidelines on the most affective way to test safety barriers to provide the most accurate impact ratings.  

While the focus of PAS 13 is safety barriers, it is especially relevant to the use of bollards and how they can be included within barrier systems to provide a more robust and rounded level of protection. It is certainly worth reviewing PAS 13 to understand how it can help when planning the layout of a facility and its safety systems.  

What is PAS 68?

PAS 68 was designed to standardise the testing of bollards and barriers as used in preventing hostile vehicle mitigation (HVM) – in other words, where bollards are used in the prevention of vehicle-related security breaches and terror attacks.  

This PAS is useful in situations where you need bollards that can prevent more substantial and deliberate impacts from vehicles, rather than the types of accidents that occur at industrial facilities.  

What is PAS 170-1?

PAS 170-1 provides guidelines around the most effective ways of testing the performance of single bollards when hit by vehicles driving at low speeds.  

Created for manufacturers of bollards and other distributors, PAS 170-1 is still useful to understand how bollards are affected when impacted in public car parks, such such as supermarket car parks. 

Understanding the various safety standards and regulations around the use of bollards can be a good way to identify the level of protection you need. At A-SAFE, our polymer bollards are compliant with PAS 13 and our impact ratings provide an accurate reflection of the forces they can withstand.  Contact us to find out more about PAS 13.