Who you gonna call? The BSIF!
September 1st 2009 Following recent high profile cases in the news, the need
for companies to comply with health and safety
legislation has been highlighted.There is no room for
complacency following the amends to the Health & Safety
Offences Act 2008, making individuals liable as well as
companies, it is now more important than ever to get the
correct advice and know who to turn to for guidance
The British Safety Industry Federation (BSIF) provides a
single authoritative voice representing the views of the
health and safety industry in both the UK and Europe.
The BSIF is the lead association for the PPE Directive (as
designated by BERR) and is recognised as a competent
authority by the Health & Safety Executive. With its core
purpose to support and represent suppliers, the BSIF acts as a
valuable information source, providing direction in all health
and safety matters from legislation to personal protective
equipment (PPE) and trustworthy suppliers to both its
members and non-members.
The BSIF is the only trade body to provide a public service role
within the health and safety industry purveying independent
advice and information funded directly by the industry. The
BSIF website www.bsif.co.uk
www.bsif.co.uk provides a detailed resource of information
including BSIF's member's services and products. In just one
month the website received 1644 hits from 974 unique visitors
and this doesn't take into account people enquiring through
email and telephone calls! Enquiries vary greatly - many are
referred directly to the BSIF from the Health and Safety
Executive, but all are linked by the need to use a resource with a
solid knowledge of health and safety to gain good advice.
Jon Mellor, product support manager, Bunzl Greenham and
vice chairman of the BSIF Distributor Group comments:
"Anyone making an enquiry, either to the BSIF directly or
through one of its members, can be confident in the knowledge
that their enquiry will be dealt with according to rigorous ethical,
honest, professional and legal standards at all times. Bunzl
Greenham has 28 business locations strategically placed
throughout the UK and has over 950 employees specialising in
the supply of PPE, Cleaning and Hygiene Supplies and
Contractors Site Equipment. We have a dedicated Product
Support Team to ensure all detailed technical enquiries or
legislative queries that are referred to us are dealt with swiftly and
authoritatively. We also ensure our staff receive continuous
training to work with customers, old and new, to handle product
enquiries efficiently, offer technical advice and quickly solve any
problems."
BSIF Registered Safety Supplier scheme – a sign of assurance
The quality of a service received is often underpinned by the
reliability of a supplier. The BSIF has addressed this by the
introduction of its
Registered Safety
Supplier scheme,
demonstrating the obligation of its
members to operate in a legal and
ethical manner. Once it is publicly
launched, participants will use the scheme
shield if they qualify to identify their organisation
and products as 'genuine and safe' to PPE purchasers.
Registered Safety Suppliers will have to fulfil three criteria;
firstly, they will need to be BSIF members; secondly, they will
have to sign a formal and binding declaration stating that the
safety products they offer are legal, comply with appropriate
regulations and fulfil their claims; thirdly, they will have to agree
to an independent audit of their quality control procedures. Any
company which does not comply risks losing its Registered
Safety Supplier status and possibly, membership of the BSIF.
Mellor continues; "As a member of the BSIF, we fully support
the Registered Safety Suppliers Scheme. It is important that that
our customers can be confident that we are supplying genuine
safety equipment, that fulfils the requirements of their Risk
Assessments and which is properly tested and certificated to
European Safety Standards where applicable and the BSIF
scheme shield is an additional way of demonstrating this and
offers them assurance."
The BSIF has already alerted readers to some of the problems
created by substandard safety products and PPE available in the
market and would like to see counterfeit and illegal products
eliminated from the market place. There has been a worrying
increase in these products and the BSIF can offer comprehensive
advice on any products which cause concern including a brand
glossary to easily identify a legitimate product. This can be
especially helpful when using an own brand product which may
not originate from a main distributor.
David Hall, chairman of the BSIF explains: "One of the core
aims of the BSIF has always been to help improve safety and
health in the work place by fulfiling a public service role to assist
commercial organisations purchase appropriate safety
equipment and services. The BSIF offers comprehensive
information to assist with health and safety enquiries and all our
members have signed up to the Federation's codes of ethical
supply ensuring confidence in the
products and services they offer." More articles from BSIF Enterprise: | 
