Engineering Register of Specialists for Gas Safety
Applications are open for experts wishing to join the Office for Product Safety and Standards Register of Specialists (OPSS RoS)
Background to OPSS:
The Office for Product Safety and Standards is a part of the Department for Business and Trade, and our purpose is to make regulation work so that it protects people and enables businesses to understand their obligations.
OPSS is the national regulator for most consumer products, excluding food, medicines, and vehicles.
Our regulatory responsibilities include:
- safety across the product life cycle from design, accreditation and manufacture through to labelling, supply, end use and safe disposal.
- construction products on behalf of the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government.
- product and supply chain environmental matters on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
We also:
- have policy responsibilities covering product safety, legal metrology (weights and measures), standards and accreditation, hallmarking and Primary Authority;
- work with the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office in partner countries to support the development of regulatory environments that enable international trade; and
- part of a wider regulatory system to deliver our objectives through influence, information and the right systems and relationships using engagement networks to bring in the views of businesses, consumers and other stakeholders.
OPSS has led on a number of incidents where gas safety has been inadequate, including most recently faulty gas elbow joints. https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/office-for-product-safety-and-standards/about
We are looking to appoint members to the Gas Safety register, within the Engineering Register of Specialists (ERoS). We continue to need a strong body of experts to provide advice, witness statements, peer review and appraisal of research and incident questions, proposals, and outputs, and other short pieces of research, across our remit and in relation to consumers.
As a member of the Register, your work will contribute directly to ensure the safety of a variety of consumer products, benefitting UK consumers and the effective, evidence-based regulation of these products.
Experts will be selected based on their experience and ability to provide scientific evidence, expert witness statements, analysis or advice across OPSS’s remit in, for example:
- Provision of evidence, analysis, or expert advice to inform OPSS work and that of any Advisory Committees on risk assessments, incidents, products safety, and other engineering issues relevant to Gas Safety;
- Risk assessment and identifying hazards within Gas Safety, Safe Design & Construction and any associated Incidents;
- Ad hoc advice and be on an expert panel to inform regulatory decisions in responding to incidents on Gas Safety incidents;
- Research support which may include questions on product design, proposal appraisal, rapid evidence reviews, report evaluation/peer review, quality assurance and risk analysis;
- Guidance and expert opinion on Gas Safety, including Gas Appliances, Gas Fittings and Installations and Supply Chain Quality Assurance; and
- Independent consumer expertise with standard committee knowledge and experience.
To apply to become a member of ERoS, please download and complete the application form and send it along with the requested supporting documents to [email protected]
The call for specialists is ongoing and there is currently no deadline by which applications must submit by.
For more information including the application and selection process, and how the OPSS handles your data, please read the Engineering Register of Specialists Information Pack.