BITA’s Technical Policy Committee 

BITA’s Technical Policy Committee (TPC) exists to establish and promote the Association’s technical policy through the use of Sector Parties, sub committees and working groups.

The TPC, which is currently chaired by Derek Rice of Electrofit-Zapi, meets twice a year and is engaged with a whole host of international standard-setting bodies including: 

• BSI, the British Standards Institution (www.bsi-global.com)
• CEN, the European Committee for Standardization (www.cenorm.be)
• ISO, the International Standards Organisation (www.iso.org)
• IEC, the International Electrotechnical Commission (www.iec.ch)

Via the TPC, BITA ensures that when regulators and standard-setters maintain and extend best practice, they hear the voices of BITA members whose businesses will in turn be affected by fresh regulations.

BITA’s TPC also plays a valuable role in the opposite direction, by alerting operators and users to the requirements and consequences of new standards, distilling the key points and actions required by new standards both in regular executive briefings provided to BITA members, and in the frequently update BITA Guidance Notes.

Recent TPC activities have included:

• A review of the ISO Powered Industrial Trucks Safety Code (ISO 3691)
• Contributing to the 2nd Edition of the HSE Book Warehousing And Storage: A Guide To Health And Safety, as part of the Warehousing Health and Safety Forum (WHSF).
• Engaging with EU Directives including:
• 2006/42/EC (new Machinery Directive), the ATEX (explosive atmospheres) Directive,
• 2000/14/EC (Outdoor Noise Directive)
• 2006/66/EC (Battery Directive)