Abrasive wheels should not be used if the marking is illegible, incomplete or missing - this was the message from OSA, the Organisation for the Safety of Abrasives.

Abrasive wheels that are misused or incorrectly selected can cause serious injuries.

International and European standards of abrasives require that an abrasive wheel should display its maximum permissible operating speed (in m/s and RPM), its dimensions and restrictions on its use.

Unfortunately, many products do not meet these requirements and this often results in accidents.

This is why OSA has announced abrasives should not be used if the marking is illegible, incomplete or missing.

OSA receives information every week about insufficiently or incorrectly labelled products marked with the OSA logo.

If these are manufactured by an OSA member, a phone call will usually lead to the product being correctly marked in the future.

But if the product is counterfeit or privately labelled, OSA will begin legal proceedings.

A missing five-digit private label number is a severe OSA infringement because it safeguards traceability from the user/dealer/importer back to the manufacturer.

If such an incident occurs, the counterfeiter must sign a cease-and-desist letter and cover legal costs.

Further possible legal steps are the destruction of the counterfeits and compensation, which depends on the turnover.

Members of OSA are committed to the correct marking of their products.

OSA is about to upload instructions for different abrasive products to the internal member section of its website.