Every hazard, every skillset

The Office for Product Safety and Standards is comprised of four Impact Areas: Regulation, Evidence, Policy and Enabling.

Within those Impact Areas, there are thirteen work areas, each led by a Deputy Director and Functional Team Leaders.

Regulation

Construction Products

This team works with industry and others to help the UK build better, safer buildings by ensuring that construction products meet their performance requirements and are safe.  Where construction products don’t meet these requirements, we take the necessary enforcement action.   We work closely with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

Regulation and Market Surveillance

Here, the teams engage with business communities to ensure that OPSS understands a wide range of business views and actively involve them in OPSS programmes. In this area, there is also implementation of OPSS market surveillance activities.

Products and Sectors Regulation

The Products and Sectors Regulation team enforces a range of products, environmental and energy efficiency regulations, across a wide variety of product types, in a number of different sectors. They work towards providing a regulatory environment in which businesses have the confidence to invest and grow whilst ensuring that consumers and the environment are protected.

Online and Supply Chain Enforcement

The Online and Supply Chain Enforcement team works to ensure that consumers across the UK can feel as safe shopping online as on the UK’s high streets. The team delivers new ways of regulating supply chains, from ports and borders, through to online marketplaces, fulfilment houses and third-party sellers.

Evidence

Testing and Targeting

Here, the team provides scientific, technical, risk and testing capacity. They provide insights into consumer and business behaviours, as well as technical services. Their overarching goal is to ensure the legal metrology system operates effectively in protecting consumers, whilst supporting UK engineering and manufacturing. They also ensure that high-level test projects are delivered, as well as planning for incident management.

Operations and Governance

Here, the team assists the organisation on programme and project management, in addition to digital and technology services, and operational support.

Science and Engineering

This team provides engineering, technology and scientific evidence and advice, which underpins policy and enforcement. They give businesses the confidence to innovate, whilst protecting consumers and the public.

Analysis

OPSS Analysis comprises of a team of analysts, who work across statistics, data science, social research and economics. The team provides analytical support for all office activities, adding value by harnessing their profession-specific expertise.

Policy

Policy and Partnerships

The policy team helps to ensure businesses and consumers can have confidence that products and services they purchase meet regulatory requirements. 

Borders, Accreditation, Measurement & Standards

The Borders and Market Surveillance Policy team in OPSS is dedicated to ensuring our product regulatory system works well for goods entering the UK, to the benefit of consumers and businesses.

Product Safety Policy

This team leads work to gather industry insights, to shape the UK’s future product regulatory approach, building strong relationships with a range of senior industry contacts, both in the UK and overseas. They use these insights to support innovative policy work to ensure the UK’s product marking approach is fit for the future.

Enabling

Strategy

The teams within this area lead on external connections, supporting priority projects and providing clarity on strategy. They also provide support with recruitment, learning and development, internal communications, and engagement, as well as culture and financial resourcing.

Legal

This team provides expertise on legal processes for enforcement and regulatory policy and practice, ensuring that we stick to principles of good regulation. They support the development of new processes and tools to strengthen governance, accountability and regulatory practice.