Counterfeit and illegal PPE - would you know the difference?
December 1st 2008 As the first step in the its campaign to eliminate counterfeit and illegal safety products, primarily PPE, the BSIF decided to ensure that its own house is in order, that its members are complying with the various regulations and that they are not seeking to plagiarise other companies designs. The reasons are simple. There is no guarantee that a counterfeit or illegal product will comply with the PPE regulations, will meet the necessary standards and will protect the wearer. The BSIF now has a significant body of evidence that there are many products on the market, mainly of oriental manufacture, that will not perform as indicated. If any of these products are put to the test in real situation, it is likely that someone will get injured.
Most PPE used in industry is required to undergo an independent test to ensure that it "does what it says on the tin". The bodies carrying out this testing provide a CE Certificate to verify that the product complies with the regulations and, if used correctly, will protect the wearer from harm. As a result of BSIF's internal investigations a total of over ten false certificates have come to light. These have generally been falsified by the overseas manufacturer by photocopying, whiting-out numbers and re-printing them, quoting false standards, etc.etc.
There is a European mechanism for dealing with these counterfeits, whether or not the enforcement authorities have sufficient evidence to prosecute, and it works very well. In most instances, the report to BERR triggers a report to the EU Commission. They then advise the competent authorities in every member state and the factory inspectors can look out for these rogue products across twenty-seven member states. The difficulty is that whilst we know that rogue products are out there, it is a different matter to spot them.
The BSIF would like the whole of the safety industry to stop taking PPE for granted; check it out! If you do not know how, talk to a specialist distributor or manufacturer, or contact us at the BSIF. Deployment of rogue PPE may save a few coppers in the short term but you will likely not be able to live with yourself if you knowingly contribute to a serious accident to one of your staff. More articles from BSIF Enterprise: | 
