How do I read an OPSS product safety notice and the PSD number?

What does the PSD number in the title mean?

Every public notice carries a four-digit, hyphen, four-digit reference in the title — `2609-0009` on the ASDA ladies' handbags recall, `2604-0210` on the Bababing UNA highchair report, `2606-0188` on the candle-warmer lamp sold via TikTok. On the page itself OPSS labels this PSD case number or PSD notification number.

That code is the case on the internal Product Safety Database. It is assigned when the authority files the notification, not when the public page goes live. `2606-0188` was published on 4 September 2026; the number itself is not a 4 September stamp. You cannot open the PSD with that number. You can paste it into the keyword box on the public list to find the same page again.

The number is a filing reference. It does not rank how serious the hazard is. Risk level is a separate field, and many notices leave it as "Not provided".

Which fields appear on the search-result card?

Before you open a notice, the list already prints five labels. They are the same vocabulary OPSS uses in its annual report and in the authority guidance.

Alert type and measure type are not the same thing. A product safety report can still carry measure type "modification programme" (the UNA highchair) or "import rejected at border". A product recall usually carries "recall of the product from end users", and sometimes a second measure such as a marketplace listing removal. Read both lines. The modification-programme explainer covers that split.

How do I walk through the notice itself?

Open the page. Ignore social-media summaries. Work top to bottom. The ASDA handbags notice is a clean example of the current template; use it as a map, not as advice about handbags you do not own.

1. 1
   Read the three-line summary Product, Hazard, Corrective action. For 2609-0009 those lines are: ASDA Ladies’ Handbags; serious chemical risk from excess phthalates; recalled from end users by ASDA.
2. 2
   Copy the identifiers, not the marketing name The product-information table lists type, brand, country of origin and a description. The affected-products table lists each variant with a product code and barcode (for example Front Pocket Xbody Bag, 1100258937001, 5059206286959). A used listing that only says "black ASDA bag" is not enough to match.
3. 3
   Read the hazard paragraph against the law it cites This notice names Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) and the REACH Regulations 2008. Other notices name a British Standard (the TikTok candle-warmer lamp cites BS 1363 and the plug regulations) or the General Product Safety Regulations 2005. The citation tells you which test failed, not how the item will behave in your house.
4. 4
   Follow only the corrective-action paragraph 2609-0009 tells owners to stop using the products immediately and return them to any ASDA store for a refund, and gives a phone number. That route belongs to that notice. A different notice may say contact the seller, wait for a repair kit, or that the listing has been removed.
5. 5
   Note who notified it Additional information on 2609-0009 says "Notified by: Local Authority Trading Standards". The public site is run by OPSS; the case often started with a local authority. That does not send you back to a separate Trading Standards search box.

Official records show the remedy on each notice. MayTally does not add a house verdict, process claims, or extend one barcode range to a whole brand.

What if the headline says recall but the measure says something else?

They can stack. The candle-warmer lamp sold via TikTok (`2606-0188`) is alert type product recall, risk serious, measure recall from end users and 1 other. The body then says the fulfilment centre has recalled the product from end users and TikTok has removed the listing. A vanished listing is one measure; the owner action is the other.

• Recall from end users — the notice names a return, refund, repair or replacement route. Use the contact in that paragraph.
• Removal of the listing by the online marketplace — new buyers should not see it. Anyone who already paid still needs the owner action, if one is stated.
• Import rejected at border — the consignment was stopped. A public report can still appear so other sellers and buyers can match the same model.
• Modification programme — the product may stay in the house once the named kit, visit or software change is done. Read that notice; do not invent a return-to-store step.

If a marketplace listing has already disappeared, check OPSS anyway. Delisting is a recorded measure, not a letter to your inbox.

What should I not do with a screenshot of a notice?

Facebook posts often crop the title and the red hazard line. That is how a highchair screw kit becomes "all highchairs recalled" and how a TikTok lamp becomes "Amazon is fine". The identifiers and the corrective-action paragraph are the parts that change what you do next.

1. Do not treat a PSD number as a pass or fail score.
2. Do not apply one batch code to every product from that brand.
3. Do not skip the "not all units in this batch are affected" sentence when it is there — the UNA highchair notice says that about batch BQ00249.
4. Do not substitute a shop's chat reply for the GOV.UK paragraph.
5. Do not stop at the PSD login if Google offered it. The notice you want is on the public list.

In shortRead alert type, measure type, identifiers, then the corrective-action paragraph. Follow that notice for those codes. A screenshot of the headline is not a reading of the record.

Where do I search so I am looking at the official page?

Use Product Safety Alerts, Reports and Recalls. Filter by product category if the keyword box is noisy. Subscribe to the email feed if you want new pages as they are added. On MayTally, the safety lookup is a shortcut through a hand-picked set of baby-kit notices and shows the official wording — it does not hold every notice ever published.

The public list does not cover food, drink, vehicles, medicines or medical devices. Those sit on the Food Standards Agency, DVSA and MHRA lists, which OPSS signs from the Product Recalls and Alerts hub.