The Product Safety, Metrology and Mutual Recognition Agreement (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 will amend product safety and conformity assessment legislation just prior to and on the date the UK leaves the EU (Exit Day).
What will be updated?
Recognition of Conformity Assessments from Switzerland
The 2019 regulations amend the Conformity Assessment (Mutual Recognition Agreements) Regulations 2019 in order to continue to recognise the conformity status of the following products from Switzerland after Brexit. These are to be treated in an identical manner to products from the EU:
Amendments to Retained EU Legislation
The 2019 regulations amend the Product Safety and Metrology etc. (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 to ensure conformity assessment regimes continue to function after Brexit. These amendments also transfer powers to UK Government agencies.
Importers based in the UK will also be able to provide their details on a conformity document accompanying products from Switzerland for a limited time, rather than requiring their details to be marked on the product itself.
New publications this month:
HEALTH AND SAFETY EXECUTIVE (HSE)
Use of gas-fired oven cleaning equipment inside vehicles
This safety bulletin is targeted towards suppliers, installers and users of gas-fired oven cleaning equipment used inside vehicles.
EUROPEAN CHEMICALS AGENCY (ECHA)
18 Substances proposed for authorisation
ECHA has proposed that 18 substances of very high concern (SVHCs) are moved to Annex XIV of REACH (the ‘authorisation list’). Once added to the list and the respective sunset date to be applied passes, further uses will be prohibited without an authorisation in place. Applications must be submitted for these authorisations by the corresponding deadlines set.
Substances affected by this recommendation include bisphenol A; dechlorane plus; lead salts of fatty acids (C16-18), lead salts of sulphurous acid, tetraethyllead, 2-methoxyethanol and 2-ethoxyethanol.
BREXIT UPDATE
Although the EU withdrawal agreement bill passed the second reading vote in the house of commons last week, the accompanying programme motion was voted down. Therefore, there is no agreed schedule for the bill to return for the next stage. This means the bill could not become law before the previous 31 October 2019 withdrawal deadline.
On 28 October 2019 the EU agreed to extend the withdrawal date until 31 January 2020. This ‘flexible’ extension allows the UK to leave the EU earlier, should the withdrawal agreement be ratified before this date.
Director imprisoned after fatality on construction site
Robert Harvey, sole director and employee of Front Row Builders Ltd has been sentenced after a worker (Nicholas Hall) was crushed to death by an excavator bucket Harvey was operating.
At the time of the incident, a pit was being excavated for a vehicle wash bay at a site in Blantyre, South Lanarkshire. On 7 May 2016 workers were building a will within the excavation. Robert Harvey operated an excavator to lower cement and blocks down into the hole for three other men who were working in the hole to use. Robert Harvey tipped the bucket to empty the mortar contents and shouted to Nicholas Hall to ‘scrape the rest out with a shovel’. However, Nicholas was pinned against the wall by the excavator bucket and died of blunt force injuries to his chest and abdomen.
An HSE investigation found that Robert Harvey failed to undertake a sufficient assessment of the risks to those who had been instructed to work with him. He was also operating a long reach excavator without receiving the appropriate training or certification and he instructed Nicholas Hall, who was working within the excavation, to remove mortar from the bucket.
Breaches
Robert Harvey pleaded guilty to breaching Section 7(a) and Section 33(1)(a) of the Health and Safety at Work Act etc 1974.
Penalty
Robert Harvey was given a 10 month custodial sentence.
Charitable trust after injuries to members of the public
A charitable trust in Sheffield has been fined sentenced following safety breaches that led to injuries to a woman and her grandson.
On 11 December 2017, Sheffield Countryside Conservation Trust was tree felling in Truman Road, Stocksbridge. The tree was being felled by chainsaw with the assistance of a winch. When the last cut was applied, instead of the tree falling as expected, it twisted out of control and fell onto the lane. The tree came to rest on the site boundary wall and a security gate on the other side of the lane.
At the time of the incident, a 46-year old woman and her grandson were walking up the lane. The two were injured by the falling tree. The woman was knocked unconscious while her four-year old grandson received minor head injuries. The woman’s five-year-old granddaughter, also present, was uninjured.
An HSE investigation found that the tree was not properly assessed prior to felling and the tree did not fall in the intended direction. The method used for felling this size and shape of tree was not the correct one. A different felling method was needed because of the tree’s shape and angle of lean. The HSE also found that site supervision was inadequate and work on the day of the incident was poorly organised. Effective measures had not been taken to prevent members of the public entering the danger zone.
Breach
Sheffield Countryside Conservation Trust pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
Sheffield Countryside Conservation Trust was fined £3,000 and ordered to pay £1,000 in costs.
Fines for non-destructive testing (NDT) technician for rollercoaster testing failures
A self-employed NDT technician has been fined after a train from a rollercoaster he NDT tested derailed from the track and crashed to the ground.
In April 2016 William Testo tested the assembled Tsunami rollercoaster at M & D (Leisure) Limited, Strathclyde Country Park. The Technician issued an NDT Report dated 25 April 2016. On 26 June 2016 a train on the rollercoaster, with nine passengers, derailed and crashed to the ground causing serious injuries to those on board.
An HSE investigation found that Mr Testo did not possess the appropriate level of qualification in ultrasonic testing to allow him to competently check for fatigue cracking on the ride. The NDT report he issued also failed to properly record parts tested and results obtained.
William Testo pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(2) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
William Testo was fined £1,000.
