What does an OPSS modification programme mean for parents?

What is the difference between alert type and measure type?

The public list prints both. Alert type is the kind of page: product recall, product safety report, or product safety alert. Measure type is the action recorded on that page: recall from end users, withdrawal from the market, listing removal, import rejected, modification programme, and others.

OPSS explains a product recall as a specific product sold in the UK where you may need to act to receive a free replacement, repair or refund. A product safety report is a specific product where a corrective measure other than a recall has been ordered or is being undertaken. A modification programme often arrives as that second kind of page. The hub still lists it next to the recalls.

What does OPSS count as a modification programme?

The Version 11 notification guidance for authorities (updated 13 May 2026) says it is OPSS policy that all product recalls and modification programmes are notified and published by routine. It defines modification programmes as corrective-action programmes that modify the product without necessarily requiring the return of the product to the manufacturer for replacement. The examples given are in-home repairs, return to an authorised dealer for inspection and repair, provision of replacement parts or products by direct delivery, and remote software updates.

That is why a free screw kit and a heat-pump tumble-dryer engineer visit sit on the same website as a return-to-store recall. Searching only the word "recall" will skip them.

Official records show publication by routine for recalls and modification programmes once the notification is validated. Official records do not show that every owner was contacted before the page went live. Registering the product with the maker is the route GOV.UK describes for later letters.

What does a baby-kit modification notice look like in practice?

The Bababing UNA highchair page (`2604-0210`, published 1 May 2026) is a product safety report with measure type modification programme. Use it as a map of the fields, not as a rule for any other highchair.

1. 1
   Read the identifiers first Product code BB186-001. Batch code BQ00249, which the notice says sits on the seat-pad care label under wording that starts with BQ. Sold from 26 October 2023. A different Bababing product code is outside this page.
2. 2
   Read the hazard, then the limit The four screws holding the seat unit to the base module may become loose, so the seat can detach. The notice then says not all chairs in batch BQ00249 are affected.
3. 3
   Follow only that corrective action Bababing launched a modification programme: owners of an affected chair are sent a free repair kit. The notice tells owners to check the batch number and contact Bababing on 01535 606871 or [email protected]. It also links the maker’s own notice.
4. 4
   Do not generalise the kit This page does not transfer that kit, that phone number or that batch rule to another brand, another UNA-shaped chair, or a later batch. A new notice would carry a new PSD number.

The PDF that sits behind the HTML page repeats the same PSD number, batch location and "not all chairs" sentence. If the two ever differed, the dated GOV.UK HTML page is the public record to quote.

Why does the OPSS hub also talk about tumble dryers?

Because modification programmes are easier to spot when OPSS groups them. The Product Recalls and Alerts hub currently features a heat-pump tumble-dryer modification programme and tells owners to stop using listed brands and to check whether their exact appliance is in scope. Separate product-safety-report pages — for example Haier `2505-0135` — then give the model list and, in that case, a later warning that some earlier modifications were not the current fix.

That cluster is here only to show the pattern: alert type can be "product safety report" while measure type is "modification programme", the page can tell you to stop using the appliance before the visit, and one brand’s marking (a "J7" on a rating plate, in the Haier report) must not be read across to a highchair. Baby kit uses the same public list. It does not use the same repair.

How do I find a modification programme if I only searched "recall"?

On the public list, filter by measure type or search the brand and model without the word recall. On MayTally, the safety lookup shows official wording for a hand-picked set of baby-kit notices, including reports that are not titled recall.

GOV.UK’s staying-safe page says a business that finds a safety risk must remedy it, and that the remedy can include new instructions, modifying the product, or asking you to stop using it and return it. The list is where those later remedies are published. A UKCA mark from the day of sale does not replace that later page.

In shortModification programme means a published, named fix for named identifiers — often on a "report" page. Follow that notice. Do not treat a missing "recall" headline as an all-clear, and do not borrow one kit for a whole brand.

What if I cannot get the kit the notice describes?

Stay inside that notice. If it names a phone number, email or maker’s page, that is the contact route on the record. If you bought the item second-hand, the Lullaby Trust still tells you to search GOV.UK for product recalls as a separate step from checking the British Standard on the label. A modification programme is one of the pages that search should surface.

MayTally does not supply parts, book engineers or decide whether a chair without the kit may stay in use. The notice’s own stop-using line, where it has one, is the line that belongs on the record.