The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) regulates machinery under the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008. These regulations set the essential health and safety requirements for machinery before such products can be placed on the UK market.

OPSS is currently reviewing the whole product safety framework now that we have left the EU to ensure it is fit for purpose, protects consumers and enables businesses to innovate and grow. Machinery regulations will be reviewed as part of the product safety review (PSR) , they generally believe that the regulations are providing a high level of safety and protection for users, they will consider what changes may need to be made, particularly as the regulations were introduced in 2008 and technology, and therefore product types, have rapidly progressed since then.

The aim is to publish a consultation for views later this year. The consultation itself will be very open and will discuss high level principles, rather than digging down into specific sectoral detail at this stage.

If you are interested in responding to the consultation, contact DEFRA at defrahorticulture@defra.gov.uk who will contact Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) about getting you added to their stakeholder engagement plan.