Institution news
Could you please briefly explain your job/role?
Caroline Hamilton (CH): I am the Chief Executive of the Safety Assessment Federation (SAFed). SAFed is a not-for-profit trade association representing the independent engineering testing, inspection and certification sector. My role as Chief Executive, particularly with respect to the topic being considered at the seminar, is to ensure that policy and decision making within government, regulatory and enforcing authorities does not adversely affect the ability of our members to ensure safe plant and equipment for their clients, who could be a range of stakeholders, such as manufacturers, suppliers and users.
Could you talk a little about the state of play in the pressure sector and ongoing developments in conformity assessment?
CH: I am not a technical expert, however, what I can say is that there is a significant degree of uncertainty of how the legislative changes will impact the sector, and the scale of the problem is very difficult to articulate given the complexity of the industry. Sometimes in life we simplify things to help understand, but for this topic it must be addressed with specifics.
Why is it so important for engineers to come together to address these challenges?
CH: As engineers we are great problem solvers so naturally are happy to address the challenges presented. These can be solved in a variety of ways but there are others to consider. Therefore, the “coming together’” is the important part, as although we are all engineers, we represent different stakeholder views which must be considered within the decision-making process. There are many solutions for each challenge, with each solution having different merits to each stakeholder. We need to work towards solutions that are achievable within the variety of constraints (such as timescales and costs) but most importantly work for all, noting that some negotiation is needed.
What insights do you plan to share with the Pressure Systems community at the upcoming seminar?
CH: SAFed have been fulfilling a coordination role to support the work of teams within BEIS, both at OPSS and TING, by providing feedback and input from the SAFed Technical Committee 1 - Pressure Equipment (TC1). This committee includes EEMUA, BCGA and Liquid Gas UK, but as TC1 also has HSE representation the group have been in the fortunate position to have regular dialogue with the HSE too. The aim is to ensure a wider stakeholder voice beyond engineering testing, inspection and certification is heard and that the potential issues and impact to UK PLC is considered whilst developing solutions.
Which other presentations are you looking forward to hearing?
CH: Given the immediacy of the topic, in particular that the UKCA mark is to be used on goods from 1st January 2023, I will be looking forward to any presentations from BEIS or the HSE. However, given SAFed has been keen to coordinate a voice, I am very keen to hear that of the manufacturers directly.
What are you hoping will be the main takeaways from this event?
CH: As a big part of my career has been facilitation of engineering problem solving exercises, the past 2 years being no different, I hope to take away something I didn’t already know. I am a big believer that you should always look at the person in front of you or the people around you with the expectation that they know something you don’t.
The IMechE’s Certification of Pressure Systems Equipment seminar will take place on 14 June at One Birdcage Walk.
Featuring presentations from key UK pressure equipment stakeholders, get the guidance you need to understand how these changes will impact your business and how you can prepare to operate safely and legally in the new environment.
For full details and registration please visit www.imeche.org/certification