Health Canada may make it mandatory for ski and snowboard helmets to meet new standards set by the Canadian Standards Association.
The federal department announced Tuesday it had begun public consultations on whether the Hazardous Products Act should be amended to include the recently created CSA standards. The would require all ski and snowboard helmet manufacturers to meet the requirements in order to sell their products in Canada.
The newly announced CSA standards were developed by industry and medical experts, along with Health Canada. They require helmets to withstand multiple impacts and define the areas of the head that the helmet should protect in impacts.
Currently, most snow sport helmet manufacturers follow U.S and European standards. But the CSA committee that developed these made-in-Canada guidelines considers them superior, says John Walter, vice-president of standards for the non-profit CSA.
"The technical committee members would probably tell you that they don't believe that most [helmets on the Canadian marker] would meet the multiple impact requirement of this new standard," Walter told Canada AM Tuesday.
In order to earn the new CSA stamp of approval, ski and snowboard helmets will have to be certified and tested by a laboratory accredited by the Standards Council of Canada. But certification will be voluntary.
While Walter hopes that the standard will be adopted into law, he says legislation may not even be needed.
"If all the resorts in Canada said, 'We will not let anyone on our ski hill without this new [CSA-approved] helmet,' we wouldn't need any laws," Walter told Canada AM Tuesday.
He hopes consumer demand will prevail.
"If we all said today to the local sports store, 'We want you to have this helmet available this fall for us to buy,' nobody else would have to take any other action," Walter said.
The CSA announcement comes just a week after actress Natasha Richardson was killed after she fell while at Quebec's Mont-Tremblant ski resort. She was not wearing a helmet.
According to the Canadian Ski Council, there are now some 4.2 million Canadians participating in downhill skiing and snowboarding, a jump of about 25 per cent since 2004.
As the popularity of the sports has grown, so too have the number of injuries and fatalities. Traumatic brain injury is now cited as the main cause of death among skiers and snowboarders.
Research has shown that helmets can lead to a 60 per cent reduction in head injuries, the CSA notes. It adds that helmets alone cannot prevent all injuries.
"Skiers, boarders and sledders should always be aware of their surroundings and practice sports in a manner compliant with their level of experience," the agency says.
