Paediatrics and Child Health Register of Specialists

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.

We regulate:

• 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 Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
• 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.
• 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.

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/office-for-product-safety-and-standards/about

OPSS has led on a number of product safety awareness campaigns to highlight potential hazards posed to children. These have included button batteries and small magnets. OPSS has also taken enforcement action for baby and child related products which pose harm including  baby self-feeding products, toys and removal of sleeping bags.

We are looking to appoint members to the Paediatrics and Child Health Register of Specialists. 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, appealing or pose a hazard in relation to children and babies, 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 Scientific Advisory Committees (SACs) on risk assessments, incidents, products safety and other scientific issues relevant to paediatric and child health matters;

• Risk assessment and identifying hazards for toys, child appealing products and other children and baby related products;

• Ad hoc advice and be on an expert panel to inform regulatory decisions in responding to incidents on children and baby product safety issues;

• 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 paediatrics and child health matters, sleep, paediatrics behaviour, physiology and psychology; and

• Standard committee knowledge and experience e.g. Independent consumer experts.

To apply to become a member of the Register of Specialists for Paediatrics and Child Health, 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 Register of Specialists for Paediatrics and Child Health Information Pack.