Answer from a manufacturer
I sent my thesis to most of the manufacturers of PPE and one of them wrote an answer with a couple of arguments, why the lifespan should be limited. He gave permission to publish them anonymously and shortened. He said, it is his personal opinion and not approved by his company. I hope I did not change his ideas by shortening. Reasons for a limited lifespan Argument 1 Murphys Law: Storage and transportation increases the risk over the time that unforeseeable things happen: Chemical contamination, dirt, UV Radiation,… Argument 2 “Normal” users are no experts in using PPE correctly. Therefore one can assume that we see negative influences due to misuse: (little falls, bending effects on carabiners,…) The normal user cannot assess these influences and when to discard the PPE. Argument 3 PPE Regulation, EN and UIAA require a clear “lifespan of the product or how to assess it”. Safety factors >2 are industry standard for riskproducts and therefore of course app...