IEC releases massage equipment standards

On September 12, 2024, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) released the standard IEC 60335-2-32:2024 "Household and similar electrical appliances - Safety - Part 2-32: Special requirements for massage appliances".

IEC 60335-2-32: The 2024 standard concerns the safety of household or similar massage appliances with a rated voltage not exceeding 250V for single-phase appliances and 480V for other appliances, including appliances powered by direct current (DC) and appliances driven by batteries.

The instruments applicable to this standard include the following:

-Foot massager;

-Water filled foot massager;

-Handheld massager;

-Massage bed;

-Massage band;

-Massage chair;

-Massage pad.

Instruments that are not intended for general household use but may still pose a danger to public use, such as those intended for use by non professionals in shops, light industry sectors, and farms, are also within the scope of this section.

In practical terms, this standard deals with the common risks caused by appliances encountered by all individuals in residential and surrounding environments.

It is worth noting that:

-Additional requirements may be required for equipment intended for use exclusively on vehicles, ships, or aircraft;

-In many countries, additional requirements set by national health, labor protection, and other similar authorities should also be considered.

This standard is not applicable to

-Instruments specifically designed for industrial use;

-Equipment used in special environments, such as places where corrosive or explosive gases (dust, steam, or gaseous substances) are present;

-Electric foot care devices without motors and other electric devices for skin or hair care (IEC 60335-2-23 standard);

-Household, commercial, and similar human beauty and care appliances (IEC 60335-2-115 standard).

This sixth edition of the standard constitutes a technical revision, which cancels and replaces the fifth edition of the 2019 standard IEC 60335-2-32:2019.

Compared with the previous version, the new standard has made the following significant technical changes:

a) Make it consistent with the IEC 60335-1:2020 standard;

b) Convert individual annotations into normative text (clause 1);

c) Added applications for testing probe 19 (8.1.1, 20.2, B.22.3, B.22.4).

Part 2 of this standard will be used in conjunction with the latest version and its revisions of IEC 60335-1 standard, unless the version specifies its exclusion, in which case the latest version of the standard will not be excluded.