"We want to further expand our position"
Swiss Safety, the industry association of Swiss PPE suppliers, has set itself some major goals for Agenda 2022. President Dominique Graber explains in an interview how the Swiss PPE market is faring and what milestones the association can look back on.
Mr. Graber, what are currently the biggest challenges in the PSA sector in Switzerland with regard to the manufacturers or suppliers?
On the part of manufacturers, supply bottlenecks of various materials are currently still an issue. Recertification in accordance with the new EU Regulation 2016/425 is also still in progress. Questions keep coming up here, especially since many Notified Bodies (bodies designated by the EU) sometimes produce different interpretations of the regulation. Ultimately, the additional requirements that are imposed on us by law - regardless of whether they make sense or not - must also be taken into account in the calculation. For smaller manufacturers in particular, the cost implications of recertification are not insignificant.
What are the consequences for users?
Similar to the manufacturers, the employers/users are also coming under pressure due to adapted regulations and laws. Here, too, it is sometimes difficult to maintain an overview, let alone to constantly train and instruct employees so that they are "up to date" on the crucial topics in the area of PPE. Often, the importance of personal protective equipment is not understood at the executive level - the consequence of this is that savings are made on PPE. Products are purchased that are only accepted to a limited extent and are therefore not worn consistently. It is therefore worth involving employees in the selection of the right PPE, because only PPE that is worn is good PPE. After all, every franc invested in occupational safety has a return on investment of a factor of 2.2.
What is on the association's agenda at the moment?
The umbrella of our strategy is Vision 2030 - with which we are pursuing the goal of being THE competence center for PPE in Switzerland by 2030. The following steps are already underway or in planning: a product-neutral, industry-specific training program consisting of a theoretical and a practical part. The first courses are currently underway and/or being advertised. Courses dealing with safety culture and possible cultural changes are also being considered - but these are still in the planning stage. The "opening up" of French-speaking Switzerland in the form of an office in French-speaking Switzerland is also part of our strategy.
Another member category called "Vitamin PSA" for safety officers from industry is also part of our strategy to generate a high-quality exchange here as well. In addition, we are currently in the final phase of digitizing the toolbox. We have already been able to get one of the largest employers in Switzerland on board for the implementation. This means that the e-toolbox will soon be available there on all end devices for retrieval and instruction for employees.
The Swiss Safety Association now also offers PPE training for various industries. How did this come about?
Imparting know-how is an important concern for Swiss Safety. We wanted to create a meaningful training program that would help participants to handle PPE properly in their everyday work. We discussed this idea internally for a long time, looked across national borders and discussed the possibilities primarily with our members. Two of them are active in the training sector and knew what the industry was still missing: practice-oriented training around PPE. We would like to address the use of PPE and train them in an absolutely product-neutral and practical way.
What is the response so far?
I can't say very much about that yet, because we've only just started. But interest is basically high, because we don't offer a sales event, but rather product-neutral formats.
This interview originally appeared in the print edition SAFETY-PLUS 4-2021.
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