§ 34. Mr. HurstTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the availability of specialist footwear for working disabled people. [137670]
§ Mr. HuttonWe are committed to ensuring that everyone who wants to work has the opportunity to do so, and to overcoming the barriers which disabled people may face in entering into, or retaining, work. The Directive covering safety boots is the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Directive 89/686/EEC. This currently requires a testing process in which a product model would probably be destroyed. This is not possible for one-off, specially made products such as the safety boots many disabled employees are required to wear.
This problem has recently come to light and we are working urgently to resolve it within the European Community Personal Protective Equipment Directive Working Group. The group met in Brussels on 6 November and all member states agreed the principles for a short term solution. We are urgently considering the practical application of these principles. For the longer term, the United Kingdom has proposed changes to the Directive to take account of specially made products. This has been accepted by the group and further consideration and drafting is in hand.