Minister to launch Product Safety Conference
The Electrical Safety Council has just announced the line-up of speakers for its second Product Safety Conference in October.
The conference, which will be held at Church House Conference Centre in Westminster, London, on Wednesday, 26th October, still has a few delegate places available and looks set to be a key event in the product safety calendar.Ed Davey, minister for consumer policy and consumer affairs at the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), will launch the event, where speakers will include: Ron Gainsford OBE, chief executive, Trading Standards Institute; Richard Lawson, head of technical regulation, BIS; Christine Heemskerk, vice chair, TSI Council; and Kevin Harris, chair of BEAMA’s Anti-Counterfeiting Group.
Presentations will also be made by internationally renowned expert, Dr Nick Carey, the UK’s Fire and Rescue Services’ electrical fires expert; Arnold Pindar, chair of the National Consumer Federation and president of ANEC – the European consumer voice in standardisation; and a representative from the British Retail Consortium.
The conference theme is ‘Market Surveillance – overcoming cutbacks through a combined approach’, and offers a programme ranging from the safety of imported goods, to product testing and third party certification. Presentations will look at how local enforcement can take a creative response to reductions in budgets and evaluate case study of sub-standard products.
‘These are challenging times,’ commented Martyn Allen, the ESC’s head of technical development. ‘Cuts in public spending and local authority jobs, plus increased obligations arising from the EU’s New Legislative Framework, have all put increased pressure on the product safety community. Now, more than ever, we need to share expertise and resources to ensure only safe electrical products enter the UK. Our Product Safety Conference brings together a diverse audience – trading standards officers, electrical product manufacturers, test houses, buyers, distributors, consumer safety organisations and electrical industry bodies – so we can ensure an integrated approach to key issues.’
You can book your place now at www.esc.org.uk/industry/product-safety
