Frank Angear BSIF: The new PPE regulation

The final stages of agreeing the text for the revision of the PPE Directive, which originally came into force in 1989, are now well under way. The PPE Regulation is the subject of three-way negotiations in Europe between the Parliament, Council and Commission, and it is just possible that they will complete their work in time for it to be published in the Official Journal of the European Union, known as the ‘OJ’, in September, a few months ahead of the expected timetable.

Shortly after its publication in the OJ it will become part of UK safety legislation. However the current Directive will remain in force for a while as there will be a two-year transition period before the Regulation is operational. This will allow all interested parties time to familiarise themselves with its requirements and prepare for any changes that are necessary. There will then be a further year during which both the Directive and the Regulation can be used, and only after this third year will the current Directive be repealed.

So it looks like you will be able to choose to work to the new Regulation from late in 2017, and it will be fully applicable, with the current Directive gone, by the latter part of 2018.

The British Safety Industry Federation has liaised continuously throughout this process with the UK Government’s Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) to ensure that the comments and proposals of BSIF members are communicated clearly. BIS has represented UK interests in the negotiations by all member states at the Commission, and has expressed gratitude for the input from our members. A BIS official highlighted that this support proved extremely valuable in providing opinions from the safety industry, which aided in formulating their approach to the European Commission working group meetings.

In addition, the BSIF joined with representatives from the European Safety Federation (ESF) to meet on several occasions with the lead rapporteur of the European Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) Working Group, which formulated the European Parliament’s proposals for the new text, and BSIF proposals were also included when the ESF met with the current Presidency responsible for the introduction of the new Regulation.

As a result of these activities many of our member’s proposals have been adopted in the amendments proposed by the Commission, by the Parliament, and also by the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL).

As for information flowing in the other direction, the BSIF has kept its members fully abreast at every stage of the changes that have been proposed and how implementation of the Regulation will affect their businesses. There are a number of significant changes, and BSIF members are well prepared. If you want to learn more about how it will affect your business, talk to the BSIF.

As General Manager of the British Safety Industry Federation, Frank Angear administers all the BSIF’s Associations and Product Groups. Frank has over 30 years experience in Sales, Training and Marketing roles within PPE manufacture and has been active on a number of Technical Committees and BSI & ISO Standards Drafting Groups.

For more on PPE, read our PPE Regulation and Buyer’s Guide

Approaches to managing the risks associated Musculoskeletal disorders

In this episode of the Safety & Health Podcast, we hear from Matt Birtles, Principal Ergonomics Consultant at HSE’s Science and Research Centre, about the different approaches to managing the risks associated with Musculoskeletal disorders.

Matt, an ergonomics and human factors expert, shares his thoughts on why MSDs are important, the various prevalent rates across the UK, what you can do within your own organisation and the Risk Management process surrounding MSD’s.

Listen now!