Product Safety Risk Assessment Methodology (PRISM)
The guide, toolkit and further information for GB authorities with responsibility for consumer product safety.
Applies to England, Scotland and Wales
This new Product Safety Risk Assessment Methodology (PRISM) is for use by market surveillance authorities and enforcing authorities in Great Britain with responsibility for consumer product safety. The intention is to provide authorities with an updated risk assessment methodology that addresses some of the limitations of the EU Safety Gate approach (RAPEX) and allows for a more comprehensive, robust and informed assessment and consideration of risk. It was developed by OPSS following a review of the existing arrangements with extensive input from local authorities and national regulators.
PRISM should now be used by GB authorities for product safety risk assessment instead of the EU Safety Gate (RAPEX) risk assessment methodology. However, PRISM builds on this, so users should find much of it familiar.
While PRISM is intended for the risk assessment of general non-food consumer products, authorities with responsibility for other types of products may find it useful, in whole or in part. PRISM can be used in the context of construction products, however OPSS is currently considering whether to develop a version of PRISM specifically geared towards construction products.
Practitioners familiar with RAPEX should find much of PRISM to be familiar. However there are a number of differences, for example within PRISM:
- Risk evaluation is included.
- Risk Tolerability is a key feature.
- Risk Triage is covered.
- More consideration is given to people who may be at increased risk (compared to the general population).
- The product risk includes consideration of the total number of product items in use, as well as the risk presented by a single product item.
- There is more explicit consideration of uncertainty.
- Additional guidance is provided on a range of key risk-related topics.
PRISM guide and toolkit
The PRISM guide sets out the fundamentals of product safety risk assessment in Part 1 and covers a range of risk-related topics in Part 2.
The PRISM toolkit contains four tools to capture the outcomes of various elements of the risk assessment process. These are:
- a triage tool
- a risk assessment tool (this essentially performs the same role as the safety gate RAG tool which practitioners may be familiar with)
- a multiple scenario generator
- a risk evaluation tool
Please note that the toolkit is available as an Excel file as an interim measure. It will be replaced by an online version during 2023.
Completed toolkits should be uploaded to the OPSS Product Safety Database (PSD).
Our intention is to review PRISM in about six months, to assess the extent to which it is achieving the desired outcomes. To this end your feedback on the use of PRISM is very welcome. Please contact LAU.OPSS@businessandtrade.gov.uk.
We will also soon be providing PRISM training for local authorities and are happy to answer queries and give advice on product safety risk assessment. Please contact LAU.OPSS@businessandtrade.gov.uk.
Further information that may be relevant and useful in some circumstances is also provided below.
OPSS PRISM resources
Below are some fictitious examples of product safety risk assessments undertaken using the PRISM methodology, which practitioners may find useful. The examples include some additional explanation to highlight the thinking behind the approach taken and some of the conclusions drawn. Please note that the detail of the risk assessments including the probabilities highlighted should not be transferred to other assessments. They are provided primarily to illustrate the application of PRISM and not as an OPSS position on the issues featured.
Open-source data sets to support risk assessment
Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies – In particular, the papers produced in relation to the spread of coronavirus to support the development of risk assessments for products marketed to reduce the spread of the virus (see also the Coronavirus Dashboard).
Accident statistics – RoSPA website
Statistics – NHS England website
Fire statistics data tables – Home Office
Statistics – Department for Transport
Mortality statistics – Office for National Statistics
National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) – United States Consumer Product Safety Commission website
Safety-related complaints about consumer products – United States Consumer Product Safety Commission website
Information on chemicals – European Chemicals Agency website
Examples of academic literature resources:
- Google Scholar website
- PubMed.gov website
- BMJ website
(Please note that some papers may require payment to access)
Knowledge base – Prosafe website
Last updated 9 May 2023 + show all updates
-
Minor amendments made to the PRISM toolkit in response to stakeholder feedback.
-
Risk assessment example added for non-compliant remote control for lighting chain.
-
First published.