by Oscar Venus | 9 May, 2025 | Health and Safety
FIS welcomes and supports the joint call by industry groups across the EU and UK for a mutual recognition agreement (MRA) on conformity assessment. The position paper, co-signed by Construction Products Europe and the Construction Products Association (CPA), outlines a clear and pragmatic case for reducing technical barriers to trade between the two regions.
The proposed MRA would allow products certified in either the UK or EU to be recognised in both markets, avoiding the need for costly and duplicative assessments. This is especially critical for manufacturers and suppliers in the finishes and interiors sector, many of whom are SMEs already facing increased regulatory and financial pressures.
Key benefits of the MRA include:
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Lower compliance costs, supporting export growth
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Improved market access and regulatory certainty
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Greater capacity and competition among conformity assessment bodies
As discussions continue ahead of the EU-UK Summit on 19 May, FIS echoes the call for this agreement to be prioritised. It represents a practical step toward rebuilding frictionless trade and strengthening economic ties between the UK and EU construction sectors.
FIS will continue to work closely with CPA and other stakeholders to champion sensible solutions that benefit our members and the wider industry.
by Oscar Venus | 9 May, 2025 | Health and Safety
FIS is proud to support No Falls Week, taking place from 12–16 May 2025 — a vital campaign aimed at raising awareness of the risks associated with working at height and promoting best practices across the construction industry.
Launched in 2024, No Falls Week serves as a rallying call to reduce the number of preventable incidents caused by falls, which remain the leading cause of workplace fatalities in the UK. According to the latest data from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), 40 people lost their lives to falls from height in 2022–23, accounting for 30% of all workplace deaths.
Whether you’re a contractor, supplier, or site manager, No Falls Week provides an opportunity to reflect on current practices and ensure robust safety procedures are in place. The campaign aims to equip everyone working at height with the knowledge, tools, and motivation to make safer choices — because every worker deserves to return home safely at the end of the day.
How You Can Get Involved:
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Raise Awareness: Share safety reminders and key messages with your teams throughout the week.
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Review Procedures: Use this opportunity to revisit your working at height policies and risk assessments.
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Host a Toolbox Talk: Organise a session to discuss best practices, common risks, and how to prevent falls.
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Share Your Story: Highlight what your company is doing to improve height safety — tag FIS and use #NoFallsWeek to spread the message.
FIS will be supporting the campaign by sharing resources and encouraging members to actively engage with the initiative. Let’s work together to build a safer industry, one where no fall is inevitable.
For more information and resources, visit the No Falls Week website or contact the FIS team.
by Oscar Venus | 28 Mar, 2025 | Health and Safety
In a safety-driven industry, the International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) leads with its annual safety campaign, supported by Finishes and Interiors Sector (FIS) to address mobile elevating work platform (MEWP) overturn risks. These incidents, often due to poor ground conditions, pose serious threats to workers.
FIS’s health and safety working group is dedicated to reducing these risks through a comprehensive strategy.
The campaign offers resources to educate industry professionals on best practices and prevention, focusing on ground assessment and stability to minimise MEWP overturns. IPAF and FIS aim to raise awareness and provide tools for a safer work environment, ensuring safety is paramount.
Stay updated and involved with the campaign’s resources to collectively enhance industry safety standards.
by Oscar Venus | 14 Mar, 2025 | Health and Safety
The FIS Health and Safety Working Group met on 13th March 2025, Chaired by David Cant of Veritas Consulting. The mission of this group is through guidance, collaborative working and influencing external stakeholders to make sure people working in our sector are kept healthy and safe.
Key points of discussion included reducing accidents with plaster boards and pallets, focusing on the need for a suitable pallet truck. New manual handling training being developed through FIS in partnership with Construction People targeting musculoskeletal disorders.
The group also discussed addressed challenges with face fit testing and PPE for bearded workers, the use of and control of RPE, dust awareness training, and the challenges of fixed and semi-fixed knives being used on site.
A number of task and finish groups were established to develop guidance and co-ordinate proposed activities
They concluded with a reminder about the upcoming asbestos webinar that FIS is running with UKATA.
Full minutes of the meeting are available here
by Oscar Venus | 12 Dec, 2024 | Health and Safety
by Oscar Venus | 29 Nov, 2024 | Health and Safety
The International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) has worked with the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to develop the following guidance on the safe methods of isolation of platform controls for Mobile Elevating Work Platforms (MEWPs).
Background
HSE are investigating an incident involving a MEWP which has found that when at height, the method of isolating the controls on the MEWP can introduce a hazard to the occupants of the platform. The investigation is ongoing.
The emergency stop control on the MEWP platform has been used in the powered access industry for a number of years to achieve isolation of controls and/or power source when the MEWP has reached its place of work.
This practice was first introduced on older machines, not designed to current standards, to reduce the risk of entrapment and inadvertent operation of controls. As the standards have evolved and designs have changed, this practice may no longer be appropriate to reduce the risk as other methods are now used in control designs.
Safe Isolation of the platform controls
The operator of a MEWP may be required to isolate the controls and/or power source using platform controls. Where the machine is equipped with an “engine on/off” control at the platform control console, this should be used to switch the engine off during normal operation rather than the emergency stop control, unless the manufacturer indicates that it would be unsafe to do so.
Where machines are not equipped with a dedicated “on/off” control at the platform control console, the MEWP operator should follow the manufacturers’ operating instructions as to how this should be achieved.
It is the user’s responsibility to ensure the correct MEWP has been selected for the task, and that a suitable and sufficient risk assessment has been carried out and documented.
HSE endorses this jointly developed guidance and has encouraged IPAF to communicate it to MEWP users.
