Building Local Authority Capability in Product Safety, Legal Metrology and Construction Products

The Office for Product Safety & Standards (OPSS) is part of the Department for Business Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) was created in January 2018 to deliver consumer protection and to support business confidence, productivity and growth. We regulate a wide range of products with a focus on their safety and integrity. We work with local, national and international regulators, with consumer representatives and with businesses to deliver effective protections and to support compliance.

Our mission is to be a trusted product regulator for the UK. This means protecting people and places, enabling business to thrive and empowering consumers to make good choices. We will be a leader of good regulatory practice and a champion of local regulation.

OPSS is:

• the national regulator for all consumer products, except for vehicles, medicines and food.
• the national regulator for legal metrology, ensuring weighing and measuring instruments are accurate and reliable.

Further information about OPSS can be found here: www.gov.uk/government/organisat… ↗

OPSS supports national and local coordination of regulation to join up regulatory delivery in its policy areas.

The project will deliver a programme of activities (training and e-learning packages) to develop skills and capability in Local Authority Regulatory Services (LARS, Trading Standards officers in England, Wales and Scotland and Environmental Health officers in Northern Ireland) and support coordination of national and local regulation. Each activity will have a defined learning outcome.

As a guide activities will include practical & taught, in person, e- learning and on line interactive courses including :

• Increasing confidence in basic construction products regulation
• Developing skills and expertise in construction products
• Legal Metrology - legal updates and training; practical application and hands on experience of equipment and techniques in specified topics
• Product Safety -

o How to carry out Risk Assessment; using the Product Safety Database and Prism

o PAS 7050 & 7100 practical workshop

• Northern Ireland Regulators Learning and Development in specific specialist topics
• A programme of mini webinars on specialist Legal Metrology and Product Safety topics as specified
• Leadership Development for aspiring Regulatory Leaders
• Developing an online e learning package which will be hosted on Regulators Companion for:

o PAS 7050

o Legal Metrology (average quantity, Liquid Fuel Measuring Instruments, licensed Premises Inspection)

During the lifetime of the contract the supplier will be required to evaluate learning and continually assess future needs to inform development of further programmes to be delivered each year.