Chainsaw standards by country: which standards the regulators name

This page reports what the named codes, regulators and makers say. It is not training and does not teach the work. This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here.

The courses that teach saw work are covered in the guides on chainsaw tickets and certifications by country. The standards for clothing are in the PPE standards matrix.

What the standards bodies say each standard covers

Standard	Covers	Status shown
ISO 11681-1:2022	Portable, combustion-engine, hand-held chain-saws for forest work, used by one operator with the right hand on the rear handle	Current, March 20, 2022
ISO 11681-2:2022	Combustion-engine hand-held chain-saws for tree service, with a maximum mass of 4.3 kg without bar and chain and with tanks empty, used by a trained operator	Current
ISO 6535:2015	Methods for measuring braking time and release force of manually operated chain brakes	Current, August 17, 2015
ISO 13772:2018	A method for checking the function and performance of the non-manually actuated chain brake on electric or petrol saws	Current, February 27, 2018
EN 62841-4-1:2020	Electric chain saws for cutting wood designed for use by one person. It excludes chain saws for tree service as defined in ISO 11681-2, and pole-mounted pruners	Withdrawn (shown as March 2020)

The status column is as the Swiss standards association's shop or the French standards body's shop shows it. The pages describe ISO 11681-1:2022 as listing kickback and balance outside its scope for machines with an engine displacement of more than 80 cm3. The kickback and brake standards are set out further in the guide on kickback and chain brakes.

What official pages name, by country

Country and source	Standard named	How it is named
United States, OSHA 1910.266(e)(2)	ANSI B175.1-1991	A saw placed in initial service after the paragraph's effective date has a chain brake and otherwise meets it
Canada, CCOHS safe use page	CSA Z62.1-15 (R2024) and ANSI B175.1-2021	Saws are operated, adjusted and maintained according to the maker and to standards such as these
Canada, CCOHS kickback page	CSA Z62.3-11 (R2021)	Quoted for the definition of kickback
Canada, CCOHS maintenance page	CSA Z62.1-15 (R2020)	Reported as recommending brake stopping times of 0.12 s average and 0.15 s maximum
British Columbia, OHS Regulation 12.72	CSA Z62.1-95	A chain saw meets it and has an automatic chain brake
Western Australia, WorkSafe	AS 2727-1997	Described as a guide to safe working practices that gives further information
New Zealand, WorkSafe code of practice for arboriculture	NZS 5819:1982	Chainsaws shall comply with it, or with any other standard with the same or more stringent criteria
United Kingdom, HSE	Not published	No saw design standard is named in the two HSE leaflets read, INDG317 and AFAG308

WorkSafe New Zealand's page for the code says the guidance has not been updated to reflect the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015. It lists leg protection to AS/NZS 4453.3 1997, and WorkSafe Western Australia names AS/NZS 2906:2001 for fuel containers. CCOHS names CSA B376:22 for portable containers.

Reading the two tables together

The standards bodies list the ISO and European standards by scope, and none of the regulator pages read for this guide names an ISO or EN standard for a chainsaw. The regulator pages name national or North American standards. The dates in the second table are as the official pages print them, and an edition named on one page can differ from the edition in force.

Chainsaw standards by country: which standards the regulators name

What the standards bodies say each standard covers

What official pages name, by country

Reading the two tables together

Sources