There is a lot of confusion as to what is considered to be an acceptable shelf and working life of an Industrial Head Protection product. There is no requirement in ANSI and EN standards for a test on shelf life on these pieces of equipment. Indeed, given the varied storage conditions and treatment the products receive in the field, it would be difficult, if not impossible to devise such a test. Manufacturers are however required to give some useful life guidelines. Storage - it would be reasonable to expect a maximum shelf life on an unused head protection product to be five years if it has been stored in reasonable conditions (i.e. not exposed to extremes of temperature, moisture or light). In Use - life in use is a far more difficult subject to address. Head Protection equipment is, in general, treated with a lack of care and attention, they are:  Thrown or dropped to the ground  Used as a receptacle for various items  Carried on the rear window shelf of a vehicle. Given this sort of use, JSP’s experience suggests that a useful life of 6 months to 2 years is most likely. However, if the head protection equipment is treated with care and kept in suitable conditions, JSP would expect the useful life of head protection equipment to be up to five years. To sum up, JSP industrial safety head protection products can be stored up to 5 years in good storage conditions and can be used up to 5 years following – ensuring that the relevant inspection and maintenance is carried out. All head protection equipment carry a date of manufacture and JSP would not expect to see a head protection item more than 10 years old still in daily use. For example, a head protection product delivered in Jan 2016 with a manufacture date of December 2015 could be stored in a warehouse until December 2020 and then used until December 2025 if it had been stored and well looked after in use. If this same head protection product was first used in February 2016, JSP would recommend that it was used no later than February 2021.