FEATURE
ALL THINGS BEING EQUAL
Neil Hewitt, Arco’s Divisional Director of Quality and Technical Standards, discusses non-compliant, CE marked PPE.
Despite Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) having the required EC type approval and CE mark, recent tests have indicated that some of the products assumed to be safe, may not actually be fit for purpose.
The seriousness of this issue was recognised by the British Safety Industry Federation (BSiF), who told its members that relying on just a CE certification for certain product types is not a guarantee of ongoing quality. The BSiF is also calling on the industry to ensure their supply chain routes are fully aligned in order to provide safe, legal and fit for purpose PPE.
In February this year, the new PPE regulation was adopted by the European Parliament, reclassifying some products, introducing a five year limit on CE certificates and clearly identifying the obligations of all economic operators in the supply chain. It also clearly defines that an importer or distributor who markets a product in Europe under their own name, brand or trademark becomes liable for the full manufacturer’s obligations. Although this will be a good step forward for the industry, the period for these changes to be implemented could take until 2018.
The UK is one of the key regional markets for PPE in Western Europe, where the supply of high quality and reliable products continues to be the number one customer consideration when purchasing PPE equipment. With the continued growth of the industry and employers’ increasing concern for the safety of their employees, the importance of robust legislation to protect workers is of paramount importance.
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WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY? The document that currently underpins the legislation is the PPE Directive 89/686/EEC. The role of which is to ensure that suppliers of protective equipment follow the correct approval procedures before placing the product on the market. Category two and three items of PPE must follow an EC type approval and carry the CE mark to prove certification. Category one or minimal risk PPE are self certified and CE marked by the manufacturer after they assess the product against the essential health and safety requirements of the PPE directive.
In spite of this, worrying data has emerged showing that the growth of the industry brings with it the increased risk of non-conforming CE marked products, which could result in an individual not being adequately protected during an accident.
INADEQUATE PPE
IN THE MARKET There appears to be procedural weaknesses within the EC type approval and CE marking process. These weaknesses can allow a less reputable manufacturer or importer to gain CE certification for products they wish to market and then subsequently make changes to the product. These changes could impact on the product’s safety performance, with further testing not being conducted because the CE certificate is already available.
Although, manufacturers of category three PPE are required to have a third party monitoring process in place for the actual product or a quality management system, there is no third party production monitoring process for category one or two
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