Standard explainer · EN 342
EN 342 is the standard nobody meets until they take a cold-store job — then it's the number on the suit that decides whether a −25 °C shift is routine or miserable. Here's what it certifies, and the sweat-management logic the label can't teach.
What it certifies
EN 342 covers clothing — usually suits, or jacket-and-trouser ensembles — for environments below −5 °C: cold stores, blast freezers, winter outdoor work in genuinely cold conditions. The label carries:
Manufacturers publish tables translating insulation values into safe wear times by temperature and activity level — the practical planning tool for freezer rotations.
Scope
Three standards cover "cold" — buy the one that matches the thermometer.
| Standard | Scope | Typical kit |
|---|---|---|
| EN 342 | Cold below −5 °C | Cold-store suits, freezer jackets and trousers |
| EN 14058 | Cool environments, −5 °C and milder | Lined bodywarmers, winter mid-layers for chill areas |
| EN 343 | Rain — no warmth claim at all | Waterproof shells (previous guide) |
The craft
The counterintuitive rule of freezer work: over-dressing is as dangerous as under-dressing. Work hard in too much insulation, sweat into the layers, and the moisture kills the suit's warmth from inside — the second half of the shift is spent cold in wet kit. That's why EN 342 suits are sized to fit over a wicking base layer, not a pile of jumpers, and why door-transition roles (chamber to ambient and back) need layers they can vent.
The extremities aren't in the suit's rating: CI-marked insulated footwear (the boot codes), lined gloves and covered ears complete the system. The operational side — rotations, zones, who buys what — is in the warehouse sector guide.
Buying
Questions
The European standard for protective clothing against cold below −5 °C. The label's insulation value (measured as worn, moving) lets you compare garments directly, alongside an air-permeability (windproofing) class and an optional water-penetration class.
Temperature scope: EN 342 covers genuinely cold environments below −5 °C — freezer and cold-store territory; EN 14058 covers cool environments above that, where lined bodywarmers and winter mid-layers do the job. Blast-freezer work is always EN 342 kit.
Most often it's sweat: over-layering under the suit or over-working in it dampens the insulation, which then loses its warmth. Wear a wicking base layer, size the suit as designed, and vent during warm-side tasks. Wind-chill from evaporator fans is the other hidden factor.
It depends on the garment's insulation value and your activity level — manufacturers publish wear-time tables matching insulation values to temperatures and work rates, and employers build rotation schedules from them. The suit's rating is the input, not the answer.
EN 343 waterproofs, EN 342 cold-store kit and hi-vis winter jackets from stock — embroidered before dispatch.