NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 4 – Kenyans have been urged to be cautious when purchasing Personal Protective Equipment, particularly those sold on the streets by hawkers due to quality concerns.
Since the outbreak of coronavirus, hawkers have been selling masks and other protective equipment on the streets, some with no mark of quality from the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS).
KEBS on Saturday said it had allowed manufacturers and individuals to access specific Standards related to the production of personal protective equipment, free of charge as the fight against COVID-19 intensifies.
KEBS Managing Director, Bernard Njiraini, saID it is facilitating businesses to ensure they produce items that meet the specific requirements as well as complementing government efforts to safeguard the health and safety of all Kenyans.
“Our mandate as a regulator in the industry is to provide guidelines and leadership when it comes to the production of these products and equipment so that we can give a level of confidence to Kenyans, we have to control what is being manufactured and offered for sale to ensure it conforms to the requirements of the respective Standards,” he said.
On Friday, Trade Cabinet Secretary Betty Maina said manufacturers have sufficient garment to produce over 6 million masks locally.
Trade and Industrialisation CS Betty Maina demonstrates the use of a protective mask during a government media briefing on COVID-19 on April 3, 2020.
The standards available on the KEBS website for free public access during this period include for hand sanitizers, surgical masks and single-use medical examination gloves.
All the items produced using these standards shall be appropriately watermarked on the products as “Provided by KEBS. Limited Access during COVID-19 Emergency personal use only.”
Njiriani says they have held sessions with manufacturers who want to start mass production to control what is being manufactured.
Some of the equipment that will require verifications like the ventilators will be reviewed by the technical committee in charge of the respective standards development.
In March, KEBS conducted raids and seized 12 uncertified and substandard sanitizers which were being manufactured by unscrupulous businessmen taking advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to swindle the public.
To check the validity of the Standardization Mark permit on sanitizers, one should send the code (numbers) underneath the Standardization Mark logo to 20023 (i.e. type message SM#Code and SMS to 20023) to get product manufacturing details and permit validity status or ISM#code for imported products.
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