HSE International ISSUE 106 | Page 18

SAFETY PRODUCTS & PPE : SAFETY SQUARED
Simulating fall from ladder
Dummy fall
PRINCIPLE ACTIVITIES AND KEY SERVICES
Safety Squared is principally active in seven main areas of the market , providing assistance and advice to the following groups :
• Manufacturers – product design , R & D , testing , CE and other certifications , patents , product evaluations ( competitor or pre-acquisition ), technical writing and training .
• Organisations who work at height – risk assessment , application and interpretation of legislation and standards , review of supplier test reports , equipment selection , training and accident investigation .
• Enforcement Agencies – technical support , scientific and technical research , expert witness and accident investigation .
• Specifiers – technical support in the selection of equipment and systems , design of equipment when off-the-shelf solutions are not available , and installation .
• Notified Bodies and Test Laboratories - technical support , assessing test plans , test reports and development of test methods where standards do not fully cover test requirements .
• Research - carrying out independent scientific and technical research projects for a variety of organisations .
• Standards – chairing committees and taking part in the drafting of standards for BSI , CEN and ISO .
STANDARDS Standards are important as they help to control how products are designed , tested , installed and used . They also facilitate certification processes , allowing manufacturers to market their goods and services in various countries . Standards also help buyers to determine if products are suitable for application and purpose .
Q Safety Squared is actively involved in the drafting of standards for BSI , CEN and ISO . Can you tell us more about this ?
“ CEN ( European ) standards tend to dominate in Europe and we have either chaired or have participated in the writing of these standards since 1989 . This was when it was decided that the German , French and British national standards should be withdrawn and be replaced with harmonised European equivalents , to facilitate CE-marking of products . These standards were very difficult and time consuming to write , because :
• Committees consist of interested parties from different European countries which often have conflicting aspirations
• Comprehensiveness of the standard depends upon the committee – content may be limited by political factors and levels of technical competence .
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HSE INTERNATIONAL