Van interior fitted furniture that is safer in the event of road accidents

Test protocol NS 286 aims to assess the capacity of furniture installed in the back of a commercial vehicle to restrain the contents of its units of storage space in the event of a frontal collision. The purpose of this article is to take stock of this method three years after it was published by INRS. About twelve furnishers in France and in Europe have already tested their fitted furniture using the recommendations of the NS 286 method, and increasing numbers of firms using commercial vehicles have incorporated compliance with NS 286 as a new requirement in their fitted furniture purchasing procedures. In parallel, INRS has continued to improve this method by focusing its efforts on how the furniture is fastened to the bodywork. A technical solution is proposed to enable furnishers to assess the risk the fastenings to the bodywork of a vehicle being torn off without needing a vehicle body for the testing.