Equal Safety

In addition to getting people out on the road there's one thing we take very seriously - Safety.

Our philosophy is that everyone should be able to travel safely in a vehicle regardless of adaptation needs. As a global leader, it is our responsibility to continuously strive for a higher level of safety within the vehicle adaptation industry. One way of achieving this is to offer high-quality products that are both safe and functional.

To guarantee our end-users’ safety, BraunAbility products are designed and tested according to relevant directives and standards. We also work together with users, organisations, the automotive industry and other interested parties to constantly push for increasingly stringent safety requirements.

BraunAbility Safety Centre

To remain in the front line among producers of safe and reliable vehicle adaptation products we have invested in in-house test facilities. Here our products must pass various tests before being released onto the market. Static pull tests, climate tests and cycle tests are examples of tests that we perform at our Safety Centre. Dynamic crash tests are performed by Q'Straint at the iQ Center in the UK.

For the tests we don’t perform in-house we team up with a number of accredited test houses for specific and general testing, these include:

• RISE (Sweden)
• TÜV (Germany)
• VCA (UK)

RISE and TÜV offer testing as a technical service for several UN regulations.

TÜV and VCA offer witness tests, which means that the tests are performed in our laboratory under the supervision of the authority that issued the test report as a technical service.

The test laboratory in Stenkullen is accreditated according to ISO 17025 by SWEDAC for ECE R14, ECE R17 and ECE 145. The accreditation provides our customers with a guarantee that the results are quality assured.

Selection of Equipment Used:

• Pull test rig with six hydraulic cylinders
• H-Point Measuring Machine (dummy)
• Climate test facility with temperatures ranging from -30° to +80° Celsius
• Flexible test stations with pneumatic control systems for endurance testing 

Testing to ensure Quality and Safety 

As testing is a vital part of product development it is used frequently throughout the design phase to single out the best design or material. The below list will give you a basic understanding of how we perform the various tests and where the design process of the test is used. In short, what we mean when we say that one of our products is “test approved”.

Our tests are performed in accordance with the latest version of applicable standard.

• Crash test

  The products are subjected to crash forces according to the specifications in the respective standards. This type of testing is conducted to ensure the safety of the design and is a requirement for standards such as ECE R17, ISO 10542 and ISO 7176.

• Pull test

  The seat belt anchorage points of our products are tested in accordance with ECE R14 using hydraulic cylinders. The force is applied to the body blocks and a mass dependent force is applied to the test object.

• Environmental test

  The product undergoes various operational testing for extreme environmental conditions. This can include operation at temperatures ranging from -20° to +60° Celsius to ensure its performance under these weather conditions. It can also include exposure to UV light and corrosive elements, amongst others, to ensure the performance will meet the requirements throughout the life of the product.

• Life cycle test

  The product is loaded to its maximum capacity plus an additional twenty percent. The purpose is to simulate everyday use as closely as possible: in other words, to perform a complete life cycle.

• EMC test

  The product’s electronics are tested to ensure that it does not cause interference nor is affected by interference from any other electronics in the vehicle. The test is carried out according to ECE R10.

• Vibration test

  The product is exposed to vibration for a given period of time. Vibration testing is performed to ensure that the design and fixings are safe.

• Flammability Test

  This can be a number of various tests depending on the material and location of the product. To simplify you could say that the product is tested to ensure that it will not act as fuel if subjected to fire.

Quality Standards

Are used across the business to ensure that we produce consistent products that meet our specifications. These also ensure that we assess the risks associated with both our business and products on a regular basis. Our Quality Standards are assessed and approved by external bodies nationally.

• ISO 9001:2015

  As an ISO 9001:2015 quality standards company, we have a strong commitment to quality and safety. We aim to meet or exceed, all regulatory requirements and Codes of Practice, on all products, which we manufacture and supply.

  It is our objective to give customers and end-users complete confidence in the ability of our products to offer safety during travel, provided they are installed and used in the correct manner.

  Download our certificate

• ISO 14001:2015

  When applying this environmental standard, we need to understand how we, as a company, affect the environment. We must address our environmental impact throughout the entire lifecycle of our products. Our responsibility begins when ordering components and ends when the product is recycled.

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• ISO/IEC 17025:2018

  This standard specifies the general requirements for operating a testing laboratory. For example, competence, impartiality as well as consistent operation of the laboratory. Compliance to this standard is a vital part of the accreditation of our static lab in Sweden.

Standards and guidelines in relation to products

• CE labelling

  For a product to be granted a CE label, risk analyses must be performed for each product, which must also be accompanied by descriptive documentation in line with the selected regulation.

• UN Regulations

  All BraunAbility seats and seat swivel bases are tested to the requirements of ECE R17. The floor, seat, and belt anchorages are tested according to the requirements of ECE R14. ISOFIX anchorages are tested according to ECE R145. Products with electrical parts are tested for electromagnetic compatibility according to ECE R10 at RISE. 

• EN 1756

  This regulation specifies safety requirements for the design of lifts in vehicles. All BraunAbility wheelchair lifts are EN 1756 compliant.