You cannot always trust what you read!
December 9th 2009 Since the launch of the BSIF campaign to eliminate counterfeit and illegal safety products from the UK market, the BSIF has been surprised by the number of fraudulent type - examination certificates being reported. To date, the BSIF has been advised of 30 instances where original certificates have been over-written with different brand names, notified bodies have been changed and the identity of the manufacturer has been altered.
The system to deal with this is relatively robust. As soon as these rogue certificates are identified, details are advised to the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills [responsible for the PPE Directive in the UK] who then informs the EU Commission of this fraudulent documentation. The EU Commission then advise all 27 EU states who can then take local action.
While it is hoped that this system will lead to these products being taken out of the market, there is still the issue of products currently in stock with distributors, merchants and retailers. The BSIF advises purchasers and users of PPE and safety equipment to always question the origins of products that are significantly cheaper than usual, do not appear to have professionally produced packaging and instances where the user information appears to be incomplete. Failure to do this can lead to injury to workers if the products fail to perform and employers could be found to have been negligent. More articles from BSIF Enterprise: | 
