ESC Promotes Best Practice in Europe

gazza — Tue, 29 Oct 2013 00:00:00 +0000

gazza Tue, 29/10/2013

The Electrical Safety Council (ESC) recently hosted a visit from members of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Market Surveillance Agency (MSA). The visit, part of an EU ‘twinning project’ to promote best practice amongst EU member states, was designed to introduce the Agency to the range and scope of the ESC’s work, as no similar body exists in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The MSA, which is part of the Bosnian national government, has a high level of expertise in consumer product safety matters but focuses on regulatory enforcement, rather than supporting business compliance. As the country has a complex government structure, with a number of related market surveillance bodies operating at a regional and local level, there is a lack of coordination between individual organisations and their activities.
“In a global economy, effective market surveillance and international cooperation is essential for consumer safety”, explains Phil Buckle, Director General of the ESC. “So we were delighted to contribute by hosting this visit and sharing our expertise.”
MSA members were provided with an outline of ESC activities, which range from consumer campaigns and partnership work with Trading Standards, to government lobbying for better regulation and industry liaison to support best practice.
“The aim of the project is to help the MSA establish a strategy for an integrated approach to market surveillance,” adds John Lawrance of NI-CO, the Northern Ireland Cooperation Overseas body, who is leading the delegation.
“A key part of this is to improve the system for dealing with consumer complaints – including using the information they provide to help plan and improve services. And there is an urgent need to move the emphasis back up the distribution chain, to the point of manufacture or export. The team found the visit to the ESC incredibly useful and were very impressed by the professionalism and enthusiasm of its staff.”

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esc, electrical safety council

ESC Industry Summit Strikes the Right Note

gazza — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0000

ESC Industry Summit Strikes the Right Note

gazza Thu, 21/03/2013

The Electrical Safety Council’s (ESC) Industry Summit, which recently took place in Westminster, brought together a range of key stakeholders to discuss consumer safety and the changing landscape of the electrical industry. The event focused on three significant developments: the changes to Part P and the on-going review of the Building Regulations; what the Green Deal means for contractors; and how smart metering is likely to impact on the safety of electrical installations.
Don Foster MP, Minister of State for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) – the department responsible for the review of the Building Regulations – launched the event by opening the discussion on Part P. This was followed by a panel discussion (which included Roberta Blackman-Woods, Shadow Minister for DCLG) and then audience Q&As. Responding to questions from the floor, the Minister acknowledged concerns regarding the reduction in notifiable work and the issue of third party certification. But he also stressed the overarching legal requirement for all electrical work to be safe and noted that changes to Part P would be reviewed.
However, he emphasised the need for a collaborative approach to raising consumer awareness of electrical safety and the need to
use a registered electrician.
Other presentations on the day included Philip Arend, from Carillion, on its Green Deal partnership with Birmingham City Council and Jaqui Russell, Head of Roll-Out, Smart Metering Implementation Programme, Department of Energy and Climate Change. The ESC’s Technical Director, Mike Clark, also spoke on the electrical safety issues arising from smart meter installations.
The ESC believes consumer protection is best served by working with industry and that this becomes even more of an imperative during a period of significant change explains Phil Buckle, Director General of the Electrical Safety Council.
Establishing the Industry Summit allowed us to gather industry views to develop a Green Paper, or discussion document, which will be submitted to government departments. Although we cannot control the political agenda, we hope this paper will influence government thinking, by providing expert comment and opinion. It will also allow us to take the initiative and ensure that our voice will be clearly heard during the policy development process.

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esc, electrical safety council