WARNINGS ISSUED ON FAKE HEAD PROTECTION

UCATT and British Safety Industry Federation both raise alerts

Construction trades union UCATT have asked all construction workers to make sure that their protective equipment is genuine following concerns that fake safety equipment is being distributed. Safety helmets produced in Asia or the Middle East have been found to be so weak that they can be split in two by a person using their bare hands.

UCATT advise that in order to check the safety helmet is genuine workers should:

examine the helmet closely for consistency of colour, clarity and legibility of markings;
check that the helmet is durable;
require user information leaflet from the supplier which should not be a photocopy; and
check the leaflet spelling is correct and contains the manufacturer contact details.

Steve Murphy, General Secretary of UCATT, said:

“Purely and simply, fake safety equipment could kill. Construction is already the most dangerous industry in Britain. Workers need to check the authenticity of all safety equipment and if they have any doubts about its validity then they should not wear it.”

Workers have a right not to be placed in danger, employers must take safety seriously and should not object to anyone requesting checks be made on their safety equipment.”

UCATT state that in addition to PPE other ‘fake’ equipment is known to include safety gloves and there have been concerns raised about fake scaffolding poles and scaffolding clamps.

The British Safety Industry Federation (BSIF) is a trade body within the safety industry with over 160 members including manufacturers, distributors, test houses, certification bodies, safety professionals and service providers.

The BSIF website warns against “extremely dangerous counterfeit safety helmets under the name ‘burly’ or ‘Mkll'”

This article was posted on 19th February 2013 in ALL LATEST NEWS, PPE.
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WARNINGS ISSUED ON FAKE HEAD PROTECTION

UCATT and British Safety Industry Federation both raise alerts

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