Gentle at the helm of CESA’s food machinery safety standards committee

Vital European standards work will not be affected by Brexit

Andy Gentle, who is Works Director at Hobart Manufacturing UK, has been appointed Chair of CESA’s BSI/MCE 3/5 committee – which, despite its cryptic name, does vital work in food machinery safety.

The UK has been helping to write the European safety standards for food processing machines, such BS EN 453 on dough mixers, since 1989. The work is done through the BSI Standards committee BSI/MCE 3/5, which CESA helps to run. Following Bryan Whittaker’s retirement earlier this year, Andy has now taken on the important task of leading the committee.

The committee’s work will be unaffected by Brexit because CEN, the European standards organisation under whose auspices it operates, is not a European Union organisation.

Glenn Roberts is Chair of CESA. He says, “Andy has worked in catering equipment for some thirty years and has been an active member of the committee for many years; his expertise and commitment make him the ideal choice to be chair. This is a very significant appointment: the committee’s work directly impacts on the safety of hundreds of thousands of workers in the food industry, at home and overseas.”

Andy says, “The past two decades have seen the introduction of many machine standards which have made a real impact on safety in the catering industry across Europe. More recently these standards have undergone review, to reflect changes in the market and to make further safety improvements.

“I look forward to continuing this important work with my fellow committee members. We need to look for opportunities to increase the reach of global machine safety, through harmonisation with ISO global standards.”