Equipment Marked as Conforming

Where the manufacturer or supplier claims that an item of equipment complies with relevant EU product directives, the employer still has a duty to ensure compliance before he puts it into service. Depending on the employer's assessment of the competence and reliability of the manufacturer and supplier he may choose to ensure compliance by any means, for example one or more of the following:

• checking that the equipment carries the CE mark;
• asking for a copy of the Declaration of Conformity to check that all relevant EU product directives have been followed;
• checking whether any approved certification body used in applying the CE mark was sufficiently competent to judge the efficacy of safety measures;
• inspecting the safety information for the equipment that the supplier is required to provide under section 6 of the Health and Safety at Work Act;
• checking the supplier's system for compliance with his duty under section 6 of the Health and Safety at Work Act to keep customers updated with changes to safety information;
• arranging to inspect the technical manuals that support the Declaration of Conformity in order to check how key safety issues have been addressed;
• inspecting the producer's product safety management systems, quality management systems and quality assurance arrangements;
• arranging for compliance testing of the actual item to be provided.