Using your head

Following the discovery that counterfeit helmets of dangerously poor
quality were being sold in the UK, Jacques Forrest from Centurion Safety
Products looks at why it is worth paying more for the genuine article

Have you ever wondered why a
reputable manufacturer’s
product is more expensive than
its fake rival? Often people assume this
is down to branding and expensive
advertising, “You pay more for the
name!” Yes, companies will put a lot of
resources into branding and
advertising, but in reality more often
than not the difference in cost is down
to the quality of the raw materials and
more importantly, what processes the
product goes through to make it safe
and suitable for public use.

Take safety helmets; recently there’s been
a lot of concern regarding a batch of fake
helmets believed to be of Asian origin
that have been found in the UK market
place which do not conform to the
stringent tests and safety levels that one
would expect from personal protective
equipment (PPE) in Europe. In fact,
according to the British Safety Industry
Federation (BSIF): “The outer shell of the
helmets can be split in half simply by
using pressure from hands!”.

PPE products placed in the European
market have to conform with the
Directive on Personal Protective
Equipment (PPE) 89/686/EEC which
belongs to the family of directives under
Article 114 of the Treaty on the
functioning of the European Union. They
harmonize products ensuring a high level
of protection for citizens and free product
circulation throughout Europe.

The manufacturer can only place PPE
into the market place if it has been
independently approved to be in
compliance with this directive. Obtaining
this type approval costs, as does the
necessary production supervision
requirement of the directive. Production
supervision requires regular batch testing
of the product and a quality management
system covering all changes relating to
the product. Another attributed cost for
ensuring the safety and well being of the
user is a reputable quality management
system that has 100% traceability via a
unique batch number, not only of the
product but also of all the constituent
parts of that product. All manufacturers
of PPE should be able to present a
relevant CE certificate for their product
and provide a Declaration of Conformity
on request.

As well as these quality procedures
there are ‘awards’ in recognition of quality
management systems of which the
Kitemark is one. By purchasing a product
accredited with the BSI Kitemark, the
user can be confident that the product
continually meets the performance
characteristics of the initial sample
submitted for type approval.

Conformance with the Kitemark
requirements entails regular sample
selection and internal batch testing to
ensure continued compliance.

Furthermore BSI regularly test
production samples at random and carry
out a thorough audit of the quality
management systems biannually. A
manufacturer of sub-standard or fake
products is not likely to have paid the
necessary costs to obtain the relevant
certificates, have a quality management
system in place or have been accredited
by a government recognised Notified
Body.

How to spot the genuine article
There are certain ways to help ensure you
are getting the genuine article. For
example, a Centurion safety helmet carries
the following markings:
BSI Kitemark – thus meeting the
performance characteristics of the
initial sample submitted for type
approval and has been in place since
1976.

CE Mark – since 1993 the CE marking
is a mandatory conformity marking for
products placed on the market in the
European Economic Area (EEA). With
the CE marking on a product, the
manufacturer declares that the product
conforms to the essential requirements
of the applicable EC directives.

Date of Manufacture – this is moulded
into the helmet along with four quarter
segments, denoting the quarter of
manufacture within that given year.

Product Code – stamped on the shell is
a unique code that identifies the actual
product item type.

Centurion also has a ‘full traceability’
tracking system which identifies the
origins of raw materials and components
that go into the making of its safety
helmets and which customer has received
it, by way of the Centurion Batch number
which is found in all of its safety helmets.

Everyone likes a bargain especially in
these tough economic times but with
increased legislation, suing and counter
suing it is important to know that the PPE
you have purchased is genuine and
protects you and your employees. To that
end a reputable PPE manufacturer spares
no cost in testing and putting their
products through whatever procedure is
required to ensure that their customers
are continually protected to the highest
standards possible. It is a fact of life that
you get what you pay for. What you don’t
want to do is pay with yours or someone
else’s life.

Jacques Forrest is technical director at
Centurion Safety Products