Tue 8th Oct 2019HPA 2019 Helmet RegulationUpdated approved list
Yesterday, Monday 7 October, the Hurlingham Polo Association (HPA) released an updated list of approved helmets. The list now sees the addition of the Salvavita Polo and Samshield helmets. In a special note at the bottom of the updated document, the HPA states, “After a business dispute, the manufacture of the original Instinct Mk1 has been taken over by AWB Ltd (trading as Salvavita) at the original Peterborough factory. The owner of the Instinct Polo brand has started manufacturing a helmet (which we call the Instinct Mk2) in 2019 in India. These helmets have rubber grommets rather than the Mk1’s steel grommets and are marked “Made in India”. We have been assured that certification paperwork will be forthcoming from the BSI. The Salvavita helmets do not currently have a QC mark. “The HPA currently only require helmets to be “type approved”, i.e. the manufacturers send helmets to the certification body for testing. It is the HPA’s intention to require helmets to have a QC Mark from January 2021, to bring our sport in line with other equestrian sports. A QC Mark is a higher and more expensive standard, which requires factory inspection and audit by the certifying body. “The original Instinct Mk1 helmet, manufactured in 2017/2018 with the metal grommets and marked ‘Made in England’, is certified to PAS015:2011 and BSI Kitemarked, is of course approved and will continue to be so for its reasonable useful life.” For the full document, please click here. |