Luke Neale in the spotlight

TELL US a bit about your role and how an additional Auditor benefits the RSSS?

With a membership of over 300 organisations, each requiring an annual audit, it was a challenge for the team to conduct all of the audits as well as invigilating the final SSA exams and also dealing with the many day-to-day enquiries from our membership and external organisations. I was primarily brought on board to conduct Audits and respond to enquires our members may have in relation any number of topics, such as the various standards in place covering PPE, testing, documentation, certification and UKCA to name a few. I genuinely love my job and enjoy engaging with our members each day.

After six months working within the scheme, what has been the biggest challenge?

Obviously the pandemic has had a massive impact on our members in many ways, and the reduced staffing levels and remote working situations have been a challenge to the audit process. The regional and national lockdowns have prevented the final invigilated Safe Supply Accreditation course exams taking place, but I’m pleased to say we are in the process of arranging these exams now, so if any of our members are in the position to sit their final exam, I would encourage them to get in touch so we can make arrangements to invigilate.

UKCA is also representing a challenge for our members as they try to get to grips with their obligations in relation to the transition from CE to UKCA.

Has your perception of members changed since you started here?

It has – whilst I already held the view that our members were committed to the RSSS, conducting the audits and engaging with our members has shown me just how dedicated they are to the supply of compliant safety products and services.

How do you think the RSSS helps the marketplace and general standard of H&S in UK workplaces?

Earlier in the year, Roy Wilders and I conducted a ‘Supermarket Sweep’ where we had one hour to source as much PPE from non-members as we could. I bought motorcycle clothing, protective gloves, safety footwear, Hi Vis and flame retardant clothing. I have to say, the results shocked me – for the most part the products were supplied without any of the required documentation – Declarations of Conformity, User Instructions etc. and when these were requested from the supplier, more often than not we were met with silence.  Some of the products tested didn’t perform as claimed either – I tested a glove claiming to be cut level F and it only achieved level B – needless to say these products and traders have all been reported to the relevant Market Surveillance authorities.

I’m pleased to say that we don’t have any such issues with our members, and the audit verifies their status as a fully compliant supplier of safety equipment & services. In short, membership of the scheme makes the marketplace safer and in turn saves lives.

Do you find enthusiasm for the scheme from the companies you audit?

In all honesty, the members of the scheme wear the Shield of Protection with pride – without exception all of our members are eager to ‘do the right thing’ in terms of the relevant legislation and the systems many of them have in place are really impressive.

What is involved in an RSSS audit?

As many of our members will attest, the audit process is relatively quick to do and really straightforward – we make checks to ensure that the member is aware of their obligations under the relevant legislation and that they have correct and relevant systems in place. Where relevant we also perform an indicative test on PPE to verify the claims made through a UKAS approved lab.

What advice can you give to people looking for a supplier?

The BSIF/RSSS website has an excellent search feature where you can filter by product type or service, these can be found by visiting www.registeredsafetysupplierscheme.co.uk