CEO's desk

IN THE previous issue of HSM I highlighted that in the King’s Speech, the new government had announced that it would create new legislation by introducing the Product Regulation and Metrology Bill (the “bill”). Well, they have not hung around and been as good as their word and the “Bill” has already begun its’ parliamentary journey with the first and second readings.

The Bill itself is relatively streamlined containing only some 14 clauses. It is an “enabling bill” which creates powers to make regulation in the interests of safety and in the interests of business. Being an “enabling bill” it allows for different targeted solutions to be introduced by using the shorter process of secondary legislation. The “bill” creates the mechanism to respond to EU rules and choose whether the UK adopts them or creates our own tailored responses to emerging product safety challenges. 

Perhaps most central, is that the “bill” will allow the UK Government to regulate online marketplaces and confirm their status as traders or economic operators, with responsibilities for product supplied through their portals. This is vital to protect people from sourcing unsuitable, unapproved and potentially unsafe product including of course PPE. 

We remain optimistic that the Product Regulation and Metrology Bill will address the problem of online marketplaces and unsafe product and we are told that the “bill” has a timeline of April/May 2025 to achieve Royal Assent, this is, again, not hanging around!

Our area of special interest is obviously PPE but the problem goes across many product categories. In their 2023 report the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) reported results from special investigations into product sold through online marketplaces covering toys, small electrical equipment, cosmetics, button batteries and category III PPE. The investigation illustrated an alarming amount of unsafe product across the types sourced, with 90% of the category III PPE being unsafe. In their 2024 Product Safety Database report 10% of the failures reported across all goods was PPE. PPE was only headed by Toys (14%), Cosmetics (20%) and the most frequently listed, Electrical Appliances at 23%. 

If we consider the volume of product sold in Electricals, Toys and Cosmetics versus the volumes of PPE sold, for PPE to make up 10% of the total failures on the Product Safety Database it just shows how much poor PPE is available online.

The BSIF Registered Safety Supplier Scheme continues to carry out market surveillance of PPE and Safety Equipment and the official government figures above show that our work is absolutely vital. 

Throughout 2023 and 2024 we have run the Check – Select - Protect campaign to highlight credible, capable and competent suppliers from whom users should source. As we move into 2025, we will continue this work and we are planning a wide-reaching campaign under the banner “PPE Saves Lives”. 

We will pre-launch “PPE Saves Lives” on the 27 of November at HSM Live in Edinburgh and include it in the “Not Fit for Work” webinar on the 29 of November.

In other news the Occupational Safety and Health Stakeholder Alliance published its’ whitepaper “Prioritising Mental Health in the Workplace” on the 10 of October to coincide with World Mental Health Day. The “Alliance” has published the whitepaper in the hope that it will be a further catalyst for change and that it will support employers to embed a safety culture that recognises the value of good mental health support for their workforce. 

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) report that there are over 3/4s of a million people in Great Britain suffering from work-related stress, depression or anxiety and that in 2023, 17 million work- days were lost as a result. The “Alliance” white paper sets out several recommendations and central is the call for the Government to develop a national workplace mental health strategy which targets and support businesses of all sizes in building capability and capacity to manage work-related mental health risks.

The full white paper can be read here Prioritising mental health in the workplace

Alan Murray is chief executive of BSIF. For more information, visit www.bsif.co.uk