OPSS recall over 60 items of sporting safety equipment
The Office of Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) has recalled a number of climbing harnesses and life jackets over the past week, following several other product recalls of sporting equipment.
Posted on 14 February 2024
The products have been recalled due to missing documentation relating to an independent conformity assessment demonstrating that the product meets safety regulations.
The recalls come only one week after four safety reports for similar outdoor activity harnesses were upgraded by the OPSS to full product recalls. The compliance documentation of these products does not show that the harnesses will perform when required.
The climbing harnesses that have been recalled include:
- SOLD VIA EBAY: Sailtrek Red, Black and Grey Life Jacket Vests; Blue Safety Body Harness; Full body climbing/safety harness; Half body rock climbing harness; Black and Yellow Safety/climbing harness; full body detachable harness; Half body outdoor sports harness; and Safety rock/climbing harness – tree fall protection
- SOLD VIA FRUUGO: Climbing Harnesses for Mountaineering Climbing Abseiling; Climbing Harness with Waist Pad; Five Point Full Body Harness; Black and Yellow Sporting Harness; Mountaineering, Climbing, Abseiling Harness; Multifunctional harness; Upper body safety harness; HA DENG lightweight outdoor safety belt/harness; Full body rock climbing harness; Sporting climbing harness; Adjustable Children’s Safety Harness;
- Waist protect harness in orange; half body climbing harness for high level mountaineering; Unisex Harness/Safety Rope; Safety Belt/Climbing Harness; and Black waist protect harness
- SOLD VIA ALIEXPRESS: High-Altitude safety belt/harness; Anti-Fall safety belt/harness for outdoor activities; Adjustable half body climbing harness; and 1500KG rock climbing harness
- SOLD VIA AMAZON: Dauerhaft Portable Climbing safety harness; DFGENLY Children’s half-length climbing harness; Heaveant High Altitude Half Body Safety Belt; Babimax ENJOHOS full body climbing harness; ZWR Half Body Adjustable Climbing Harness; JiaFangmyUK Adjustable Half Body Harness; and Chest and Body Climbing Harness with Adjustable Buckle
Separately, a life jacket has also received an urgent product recall as it was found to present a serious risk of drowning. On testing, the life jacket was not sufficiently buoyant to be classed as a life jacket and instead should have been listed as a buoyancy aid.
There were 24 life jackets recalled by the OPSS last week including children’s life jackets, which had been sold on Amazon and Wish. The life jackets lacked an independent conformity assessment; on testing they only performed to buoyancy aid standard and not life jacket standard. For a full list of affected items, please see the OPSS website.
These announcements are the latest in a series of recalls of similar safety equipment for sport. In October 2023, there was a similar recall of a climbing harness sold on Fruugo.
Product safety solicitor, Philippa Wheeler said:
“It is extremely worrying that so many sport safety products present a risk to consumers and have been recalled, including life vests sold for children, in a short amount of time. It is vitally important for those purchasing sporting safety equipment to be able to trust in the integrity of the product. Consumers purchase these products to perform when required to save them from serious injury or even death, and it is worrying that these unsafe products made it to the market without the required independent testing to confirm this.”
Philippa Wheeler
Philippa is a solicitor in the product safety team
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