All abrasive products are subject to particularly high stresses from centrifugal, cutting and tension forces. The risk of injury is considerable should they not be sturdy enough and, in fact, fracture. It should not be forgotten that pieces breaking off from a cutting wheel rotating at a peripheral speed of 80 m/s do so at roughly 290 km/h. Thus in all professional and DIY fields of use, it is vital that the safety requirements placed on abrasives are strictly adhered to.

For many years, abrasive products have been an important driving force behind various European standardization processes. Consequently the most important safety requirements on the production, condition and testing of abrasive products are to be found in the three basic CEN safety standards. oSa asks its members to strictly comply with the standards put in place.

Since standards, however, arise from a consensus among the pressure groups taking part - resulting in the last resort in a compromise between different and often competing engineering approaches - the oSa has taken upon itself to develop and apply additional manufacturing and testing regulations in order to more clearly emphasize the safety aspect.

The affiliated firms themselves undertake to ensure that these provisions and instructions are adhered to and applied and, in doing so, independent, reputable testing institutes can be made use of.

Accepting a company into the oSa is accompanied by an independent expert carrying out an on-the-spot inspection. This involves inspection of the manufacturing equipment, reporting on the testing techniques and appraisal of the manufacturer's ability to meet the oSa's exacting safety requirements.

After this "quality audit" the independent expert drafts a test report detailing the outcome of the safety examination. The oSa will document acceptance of a company applying to join as long as its quality management system fulfils the constitution-based specifications. This documentation also includes issuing the oSa label.