CTV.ca News Staff
While more Canadians are choosing to wear helmets while skiing or snowboarding, there have been no requirements about how well those helmets should work.
That could change with the country’s first recreational alpine skiing and snowboarding helmet standard. The Canadian Standards Association (CSA) announced Monday it will begin providing testing for certification of the head gear starting next month.
John Walter, vice-president of standards for the non-profit CSA, says the increasing number of head injuries suggested there was a need to develop a standard specifically designed for the Canadian market.
“Canada’s first recreational alpine skiing and snowboarding helmet standard was developed by leading industry and medical experts, Health Canada, and other stakeholders to help improve head protection for participants in these popular winter activities,” Walter said in a statement.
Currently, most snow sport helmet manufacturers follow U.S and European standards, but the CSA committee that developed these guidelines considers these superior.
The standard requires helmets to withstand multiple impacts. It defines the areas of the head that the helmet should protect in impacts. It covers the basic performance requirements for shock absorption, helmet stability, and retention system strength. The guideline also applies to helmets for tobogganing and sledding.
In order to earn the new CSA stamp of approval, ski and snowboard helmets will have to be certified and tested by a laboratory accredited by the Standards Council of Canada.
But the standard is voluntary, and manufacturers have no obligation to meet the requirements or to have their products certified by the CSA.
Walter hopes that the standard will be adopted into law, as part of the Hazardous Products Act or consumer products legislation. But he says legislation may not even be needed.
“If all the resorts in Canada said, ‘We will not let anyone on our ski hill without this new [CSA-approved] helmet,’ we wouldn’t need any laws,” Walter told Canada AM Tuesday.
He hopes consumer demand will prevail.
“If we all said today to the local sports store, ‘We want you to have this helmet available this fall for us to buy,’ nobody else would have to take any other action,” Walter said.
The CSA announcement comes just a week after actress Natasha Richardson was killed after she fell while at Quebec’s Mont-Tremblant ski resort. She was not wearing a helmet.
According to the Canadian Ski Council, there are now some 4.2 million Canadians participating in downhill skiing and snowboarding, a jump of about 25 per cent since 2004.
As the popularity of the sports has grown, so too have the number of injuries and fatalities. Traumatic brain injury is now cited as the main cause of death among skiers and snowboarders.
Research has shown that helmets can lead to a 60 per cent reduction in head injuries, the CSA notes. It adds that helmets alone cannot prevent all injuries.
“Skiers, boarders and sledders should always be aware of their surroundings and practice sports in a manner compliant with their level of experience,” the agency says.
