What differentiates a safe cabinet from an unsafe one?

In-house Production of Safety Cabinets
It may not be widely known that Holm & Halby once produced their own safety cabinets.

In the 1980s, we manufactured safety cabinets with wooden frames, which were both famous and infamous. These benches were constructed at a local lumberyard, while the filters were installed at the point of sale. They were then tested and approved by a qualified person from SAS service, who specialized in this exact type of testing task. This method is significantly different from what we use today with the safety cabinet standards EN12469/DIN12980.

Today, safety cabinets are produced globally by many different manufacturers, often of high quality. Unfortunately, there are still instances where the quality does not meet the requirements for personal safety – which is, after all, the primary purpose of a safety cabinet.

What Differentiates a Safe Cabinet from an Unsafe One?
The design and functionality of a LAF (Laminar Air Flow) cabinet are based on correct laminar air flow, which means that one is limited by the laws of physics in the design process, while also needing to consider safety, ergonomics, noise, and functionality. How this is to be implemented is described in various international standards – for example, in Denmark, we are subject to the Danish Standard EN 12469 for class II cabinets, as well as the same standard and an additional standard DIN12980 for work with cytostatics.

These standards impose comprehensive and strict requirements on manufacturers. Therefore, some manufacturers choose to compromise on the design, which can result in product loss or compromise the operator's safety.

The Costly Process of Obtaining Certification
Fortunately, there are several entities that test safety cabinets and have the authority to issue certificates. They evaluate the cabinet's design, electrical installations, measure air flow, cross-contamination, flow visualization, vibrations, test seals, negative pressure chamber, ease of cleaning, visual and acoustic alarms, and much more. Ultimately, they issue the coveted certificate.

The process often involves the cabinet failing several times, and the authority must declare that approval cannot be given due to critical deficiencies. The manufacturer is then given the opportunity to make the necessary adjustments or redesign before a new test is conducted. Obtaining a certificate is an expensive process, especially if the cabinet does not pass the initial tests, and not all manufacturers have the financial resources to complete this process.

The inability to design an approved cabinet is a primary reason some cabinets are sold without certification. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to phrases like "Produced in accordance with EN12469" or "The bench meets EN12469," which are often used instead of specific certificate information.

Which Authorities Can Approve?
There are a number of authorities that can approve safety cabinets – in Europe, TÜV Nord is among the most well-known.

However, there are differences even among the authorities. For example, TÜV Köln can approve and issue certificates, but it rarely does. The most significant approval is only conducted by TÜV Nord, which has built up a special expertise in the area. This expertise is not only for existing standards; TÜV also monitors special tests such as "envelope test" and "dynamic interference." In the future, they will also be responsible for conducting these tests and issuing certificates. Other certifiers could include Porton Down, but they are not accredited to issue certificates because they do not test according to the entire standard.

Our Technician is TÜV Certified
Education with our suppliers and TÜV certification are highly prioritized in our service department. It is a quality stamp that confirms our knowledge of the stringent requirements a safety cabinet must meet to be TÜV approved. Our technician, Carl Petersen from Holm & Halby, is certified by TÜV.

Approved Cabinets
Via the link below, one can find an overview of cabinets that have been tested and approved by TÜV Nord. The list includes cabinets with both EN12469 and EN12980 approval.

[See TÜV-approved cabinets here] - PDF version 28-01-2020

[Find the most recently updated list here] - (TÜV website)

LAF Manager Seminar
You can learn more about what to look out for when choosing an LAF cabinet at our LAF Manager seminar.