Website legal notice
Website Terms of Use
1. Who we are and how to contact us
1.1 This website, www.proshielduk.com (the “Site”), is operated by ProShield Distribution Ltd (“ProShield”, “we”, “us” or “our”). We are the exclusive master distributor of Youngstown Glove Company products for Europe and the Middle East.
1.2 Our details are as follows.
Registered name. ProShield Distribution Ltd
Registered in. England and Wales
Company registration number. 17388760
Registered office. Marland House, 13 Huddersfield Road, Barnsley, England S70 2LW
Email. Michael@ProShieldUK.com
1.3 To contact us about the Site, about a product, or about anything in this document, email Michael@ProShieldUK.com or use the enquiry form on the Site. We aim to reply to business enquiries within one working day.
1.4 If we have to contact you, we will do so by the email address or telephone number you gave us in your enquiry.
2. These terms, and your agreement to them
2.1 These are the terms on which you may use the Site (the “Terms”). Please read them carefully. By using the Site you confirm that you accept these Terms and that you agree to comply with them. If you do not agree to them, you must not use the Site.
2.2 These Terms should be read together with our Acceptable Use Policy, which forms part of them, and with our Privacy Notice, clause 11 of which is our cookie notice. All three documents are available on the Site.
2.2A If there is a conflict, the following order of precedence applies: first, our conditions of sale, in relation to the supply of products; second, the Acceptable Use Policy, on any question of acceptable use of the Site; and third, these Terms.
2.3 We may amend these Terms at any time by posting a revised version on the Site. The version in force is the one published on the Site at the time you use it. We recommend that you check this page each time you propose to use the Site. The date these Terms were last reviewed is shown at the front of this document.
2.4 We may transfer our rights and obligations under these Terms to another organisation, for example on a sale or reorganisation of our business. You may not transfer your rights or obligations under these Terms to anyone else.
3. Who may use the Site
3.1 The Site is directed at businesses. It is intended for use by utility companies, energy and infrastructure contractors, distributors, resellers, and the safety, procurement and technical professionals who work for them. It is not directed at consumers.
3.2 By using the Site you represent that you are acting in the course of a business, trade, craft or profession, and that you are authorised to act on behalf of the organisation you name in any enquiry. If you are a consumer within the meaning of the Consumer Rights Act 2015, please note that the Site is not intended for you and that we do not sell to consumers. Nothing in these Terms affects any statutory right you may have that cannot be excluded or limited by agreement.
3.3 You must be at least 18 years old to use the Site.
3.4 We make no representation that the Site, or any product or information on it, is appropriate or available for use in any particular country. Access to the Site from a territory where its content is illegal is prohibited, and if you access the Site from outside the United Kingdom you do so on your own initiative and are responsible for compliance with local law.
4. What the Site is, and what it is not
4.1 The Site is an information and enquiry service. It describes the Youngstown range that ProShield distributes, the standards those products are tested and certified to, and the sectors we serve. It allows you to send us an enquiry, request technical documentation, and request a free wear trial.
4.2 The Site is not a shop. You cannot place an order, pay, or form a contract of sale through the Site. Nothing on the Site is an offer to sell, and no contract for the supply of any product comes into existence unless and until we accept your order in writing under separate conditions of sale.
4.3 Nothing on the Site constitutes advice on which you should rely. In particular, the Site does not provide, and must not be treated as providing, a risk assessment, a personal protective equipment specification, engineering advice, or legal or regulatory advice. Content on the Site is provided for general information only.
4.4 Before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of content on the Site, you must obtain professional or specialist advice and carry out your own risk assessment. See clause 6.
5. Product information, specifications and certification status
5.1 We take care to describe the products we distribute accurately, and to state the standards to which each style is tested, rated or certified, together with its current European certification status.
5.2 Performance figures published on the Site are those published by the manufacturer, Youngstown Glove Company, and are derived from laboratory testing to the standards named against each figure. They describe the performance of a new product tested under defined laboratory conditions. They do not predict the performance of a worn, damaged, contaminated, modified or incorrectly sized product, and they do not describe performance in any particular application.
5.3 Where the Site refers to European certification, that means conformity assessment under Regulation (EU) 2016/425 for the European Union market and under the assimilated version of that Regulation for the Great Britain market. These are separate regimes with separate marking. The marking that applies to a style, and the body that issued or is assessing it, are stated per style in our written quotation and in the documentation we supply.
5.4 Where the Site states that a European certification is in progress for a style, that is a statement of fact about the status of that certification at the date shown. It is not a representation that the certification will be granted, that it will be granted by any particular date, or that the product will carry any particular marking or category on completion.
5.5 Specifications, arc ratings, cut and puncture levels, materials, sizes and certification statuses may change as testing completes and as the manufacturer revises its range. The version of any figure that governs a supply is the version stated in our written quotation or order acknowledgement, not the version on the Site.
5.6 Images of products on the Site are illustrative. Where an image is captioned as a representative image, it shows the closest style in the same family and not the style described in the accompanying text. Colour reproduction depends on your display and is not guaranteed.
5.7 If you require the current declaration of conformity, type-examination certificate, product manual, technical data sheet or supporting test documentation for any style, ask us and we will supply what has been issued. Do not rely on the Site alone when specifying hand protection.
6. Safety-critical information — please read this clause
6.1 Arc-rated gloves and leather protectors do NOT protect against shock or voltage. Arc rating and dielectric protection are different product classes, tested to different standards. Where crews work live, the primary hand protection is an EN / IEC 60903 insulating rubber glove, worn under a leather protector. Youngstown does not manufacture insulating rubber gloves and ProShield does not supply them.
6.2 The products described on the Site are personal protective equipment. Several are Category III personal protective equipment within the meaning of Regulation (EU) 2016/425 and of the assimilated version of that Regulation as it applies in Great Britain, which is to say that they protect against risks that may cause very serious consequences such as death or irreversible damage to health.
6.3 Personal protective equipment is the last line of defence, not the first. Selecting it is your responsibility as the employer or as the person specifying it. You must carry out your own suitable and sufficient risk assessment, calculate the incident energy or other hazard level for the specific task, and select equipment whose rated performance exceeds that level with an appropriate margin.
6.4 No product described on the Site is suitable for every task. Ratings vary by style and are stated per style. You must not treat a rating published for one style as applying to another, and you must not adopt a single style across a mixed task list without assessing each task.
6.5 Where we identify that a product is not suitable for a task you have described to us, we will tell you. We do not undertake to identify every unsuitable application, and clause 6.3 continues to apply. Where the Site states a limit — for example that the range is not offered for wastewater, sewer, jetting or confined-space work, or that no style in the range is rated for a particular exposure — that statement is part of the product information and you must not disregard it.
6.6 Products must be used strictly in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions, inspected before each use, and withdrawn from service when damaged, contaminated or worn. We accept no responsibility for equipment that has been misused, modified, incorrectly sized, used beyond its service life, or used outside the conditions for which it is rated.
6.7 Nothing on the Site relieves you of any duty under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 as amended, the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989, or any equivalent legislation applying to you.
7. Enquiries, technical documentation and the free wear trial
7.1 When you submit an enquiry through the Site you are asking us to contact you. You are not placing an order and we are not obliged to accept any request. Submitting an enquiry creates no contract between us.
7.2 Information you give us in an enquiry must be accurate, complete and not misleading, and you must tell us if it changes. We rely on what you tell us about your crews, tasks and hazards when we recommend a style.
7.3 The free 60-day wear trial is offered at our discretion to qualified utility companies and energy contractors. Eligibility, the styles and quantities supplied, the trial period and any conditions are agreed in writing case by case. Trial products remain our property unless we agree otherwise in writing, and are supplied for evaluation purposes only. Trial products must not be used as the primary hand protection for live working. The safety obligations in clause 6 apply to trial products in full.
7.4 A wear trial does not oblige you to buy and does not oblige us to sell. Neither party is liable to the other for the cost of taking part in a trial.
7.5 Declarations of conformity, type-examination certificates, product manuals, technical data sheets and supporting test documentation are supplied to you for the purpose of evaluating and safely using the products. You may share them within your own organisation and with your own contractors and safety advisers for that purpose. You may not publish them, sell them, or use them to support the sale of a competing product. This clause survives the end of any discussion between us.
8. Orders and sales
8.1 Any supply of products by us is governed by our conditions of sale, which are agreed separately and provided with our quotation. Those conditions prevail over these Terms in relation to the supply of products, and over any terms you seek to impose in a purchase order or other document.
8.2 Prices, lead times, availability and delivery arrangements are given in our written quotation and are not published on the Site. Nothing on the Site is a price.
8.3 We are the distributor of Youngstown products in the territory. Where we import products into Great Britain or the European Union, we act as the importer for the purposes of Regulation (EU) 2016/425 and of the assimilated version of that Regulation as it applies in Great Britain, and we comply with the obligations that fall on an importer. Obligations placed on the manufacturer fall on Youngstown Glove Company.
8.4 On request we will supply the EU or UK declaration of conformity for any style we supply, or the internet address at which it can be accessed, together with the relevant type-examination certificate and the identification number of the notified or approved body. Instructions are supplied in the language or languages required for the destination market.
8.5 Personal protective equipment may be placed on the European Union market only where there is an economic operator established in the Union responsible for the tasks in Article 4(3) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020. Where we supply product into the European Union, the name and address of that economic operator are stated on the product, its packaging or the accompanying documents, and we will identify that operator to you on request.
8.6 On request we will provide the information we hold about substances of very high concern in a supplied article, so far as Article 33 of the UK REACH Regulation and of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 requires it.
8.7 You must keep records that allow supplied and trial product to be traced to the crews using it, pass on to those users any safety notice we issue, withdraw affected product from service on notice from us, and co-operate with us and with any market surveillance authority in the event of a product safety incident or recall. Report any product safety incident to Michael@ProShieldUK.com immediately, marked for the attention of product safety.
9. Intellectual property
9.1 We are the owner or the licensee of all intellectual property rights in the Site and in the material published on it. Those works are protected by copyright, database right, trade mark law and treaties around the world. All such rights are reserved.
9.2 You may print off one copy, and download extracts, of any page on the Site for your own internal business use, and you may draw the attention of colleagues within your organisation, and of your own contractors and advisers, to content on the Site.
9.3 You must not modify the paper or digital copies of any material you have printed or downloaded, and you must not use any illustration, photograph, video, audio or graphic separately from any accompanying text.
9.4 Our status, and that of any identified contributor, as the author of content on the Site must always be acknowledged. You must not use any part of the content on the Site for commercial purposes without a licence from us.
9.4A Clauses 9.2 to 9.4 and clause 12.2 do not apply to conduct expressly permitted by clause 3 of the Acceptable Use Policy, which sets out the terms on which search engines and artificial intelligence answer engines may access, index and cite the Site.
9.5 ProShield Distribution Ltd, the ProShield shield device, the PROSHIELD and DISTRIBUTION word marks and the tagline “Solving safety for EMEA professionals” are the property of ProShield Distribution Ltd. You may not use them without our written permission.
9.6 Youngstown® and the Youngstown Glove Company name and logo are trade marks of Youngstown Glove Company. Kevlar® and Nomex® are registered trade marks of their respective proprietors. Those marks appear on the Site under licence or by permission, and nothing on the Site grants you any right to use them.
10. Acceptable use
10.1 You must use the Site only for lawful purposes and in accordance with our Acceptable Use Policy, which forms part of these Terms.
10.2 You must not misuse the Site by knowingly introducing viruses, trojans, worms, logic bombs or other material that is malicious or technologically harmful. You must not attempt to gain unauthorised access to the Site, the server on which it is stored, or any server, computer or database connected to it. You must not attack the Site by means of a denial-of-service attack or a distributed denial-of-service attack.
10.3 By breaching clause 10.2 you may commit a criminal offence under the Computer Misuse Act 1990. We may report any such breach to the relevant law enforcement authorities and may co-operate with them by disclosing your identity to them. In the event of such a breach, your right to use the Site ceases immediately.
10.4 We may suspend or withdraw your access to the Site, in whole or in part, immediately and without notice, where you breach these Terms or the Acceptable Use Policy, or where we reasonably suspect that you have. We will act reasonably and proportionately in deciding what action to take.
11. Availability of the Site
11.1 We do not guarantee that the Site, or any content on it, will always be available or uninterrupted. We may suspend, withdraw or restrict the availability of all or any part of the Site for business and operational reasons. We will try to give you reasonable notice of any planned suspension.
11.2 We do not guarantee that the Site will be secure or free from bugs or viruses. You are responsible for configuring your information technology, computer programs and platform to access the Site, and you should use your own virus protection software.
11.3 We may update and change the Site from time to time to reflect changes to our products, our users’ needs and our business priorities.
11.4 We aim to meet level AA of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 across the Site. If you have difficulty using any part of the Site, tell us at Michael@ProShieldUK.com and we will help you get the information you need by another route.
12. Links to and from the Site
12.1 Where the Site contains links to other sites and resources provided by third parties, those links are provided for your information only and do not signify that we endorse those sites or the material on them. We have no control over the contents of those sites or resources and accept no responsibility for them or for any loss or damage that may arise from your use of them.
12.2 You may link to our home page, provided you do so in a way that is fair and legal and does not damage our reputation or take advantage of it. You must not establish a link in such a way as to suggest any form of association, approval or endorsement on our part where none exists. You must not frame the Site on any other site, and you must not create a link to any part of the Site other than the home page without our written permission. We reserve the right to withdraw linking permission without notice.
13. Our liability to you
13.1 Nothing in these Terms, or in the Acceptable Use Policy, excludes or limits our liability for death or personal injury arising from our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, for breach of the terms implied by section 12 of the Sale of Goods Act 1979 or by sections 2 and 7 of the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982, for defective products under the Consumer Protection Act 1987, for any liability under section 2(1) of the Misrepresentation Act 1967 that cannot lawfully be excluded, or for any other liability that cannot be excluded or limited by the law of England and Wales. This clause 13.1 prevails over every other exclusion or limitation in these Terms and in the Acceptable Use Policy.
13.2 Subject to clause 13.1, and because you are using the Site for business purposes, we exclude all implied conditions, warranties, representations and other terms that may apply to the Site or any content on it.
13.3 Subject to clause 13.1, we will not be liable to you for any of the following, however arising, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty or otherwise, and even if foreseeable:
(a) loss of profits, sales, business or revenue;
(b) business interruption;
(c) loss of anticipated savings;
(d) loss of business opportunity, goodwill or reputation;
(e) loss or corruption of data; or
(f) any indirect or consequential loss or damage.
13.3A All other liability we may have to you arising under or in connection with your use of, or inability to use, the Site, or with your use of or reliance on any content displayed on it, is limited as set out in clause 13.4.
13.4 Subject to clause 13.1, our total liability to you in respect of all losses arising under or in connection with your use of the Site, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty or otherwise, is limited to £1,000.
13.5 We will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by a virus, distributed denial-of-service attack or other technologically harmful material that may infect your computer equipment, computer programs, data or other proprietary material due to your use of the Site or to your downloading of any content on it or on any site linked to it.
13.6 The exclusions and limitations in this clause 13 apply to your use of the Site. They do not apply to the supply of products, whether under our conditions of sale under clause 8.1 or by way of a wear trial under clause 7.3. Liability for products supplied on a wear trial is dealt with in the written trial agreement for that trial, and liability for products sold is dealt with in our conditions of sale.
13.7 We consider the exclusions and limits in this clause to be reasonable given the nature of the Site, the fact that it is provided free of charge, the fact that it is an information and enquiry service rather than a sales channel, and the fact that you are a business user and are expected to take your own professional advice and carry out your own risk assessment before acting.
14. Data protection, privacy and cookies
14.1 We process personal data in accordance with our Privacy Notice, which explains what we collect, why we collect it, the lawful bases on which we rely, how long we keep it, who we share it with, and the rights you have under the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, each as amended.
14.2 We use cookies and similar technologies in accordance with clause 11 of our Privacy Notice and with the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003, as amended. Non-essential cookies are set only with your consent, which you may withdraw at any time.
14.3 Where you send us the details of a colleague or another individual, you confirm that you are entitled to do so and that you have told them that their details have been shared with us and where to find our Privacy Notice.
15. Export control, sanctions and territory
15.1 We supply products in Europe and the Middle East. Supply into any territory is subject to our being satisfied that it is lawful, including under United Kingdom, European Union and United States export control and sanctions legislation as it applies to us, to our supplier and to the products.
15.2 You must not export, re-export, sell or transfer any product supplied by us, or any technical documentation we provide, in breach of any applicable export control or sanctions legislation, and you must not supply any product to any person subject to sanctions.
15.3 We may decline any enquiry or order, or suspend any supply, where we consider in good faith that proceeding would or might breach any such legislation. Subject to clause 13.1, we will not be liable to you for doing so.
15.4 You will indemnify us against all losses, liabilities, costs and expenses we reasonably incur as a result of your breach of this clause 15.
16. Complaints and disputes
16.1 If you are unhappy with the Site, with a product, or with the service you have received, please tell us first. Email Michael@ProShieldUK.com with the details. We aim to acknowledge your complaint within five working days and to resolve it within twenty working days.
16.2 This clause 16 does not apply to a claim relating to the supply of products, which is dealt with under our conditions of sale.
16.3 If we cannot resolve a complaint between us, either of us may pursue the matter through the courts in accordance with clause 17.
16.4 We do not participate in any alternative dispute resolution scheme. The European Commission’s Online Dispute Resolution platform ceased to operate on 20 July 2025 and is no longer available.
17. Governing law and jurisdiction
17.1 These Terms, their subject matter and their formation, and any non-contractual dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with them, are governed by the law of England and Wales.
17.2 We and you both irrevocably agree that the courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with these Terms, their subject matter or their formation.
17.3 Nothing in this clause affects any right you may have, under mandatory provisions of the law of the country in which you are established, to bring proceedings in that country where those provisions cannot be excluded by agreement.
18. General
18.1 Entire agreement. These Terms and the Acceptable Use Policy constitute the entire agreement between us in relation to your use of the Site and supersede any previous agreement or understanding on that subject. The Privacy Notice, including its cookie clause, is provided for information and is not incorporated into these Terms. Nothing in this clause limits or excludes any liability for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation.
18.2 Severance. If any provision of these Terms is found to be invalid, unlawful or unenforceable, that provision is deemed modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it valid, lawful and enforceable, or, if that is not possible, deleted. The remaining provisions continue in full force.
18.3 Waiver. If we delay in enforcing any of these Terms, or fail to enforce them, that is not a waiver of our rights and does not prevent us from enforcing them later.
18.4 Third parties. A person who is not a party to these Terms has no right under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce any of them.
18.5 Language. These Terms are drawn up in English. Where we provide a translation, the English version prevails in the event of any conflict.
18.6 Variation. Any variation of these Terms in an individual case must be agreed in writing. This does not affect our right to amend these Terms generally under clause 2.3.
18.7 No partnership or agency. Nothing in these Terms creates a partnership or joint venture between us, makes either of us the agent of the other, or authorises either of us to make commitments for the other.
18.8 Force majeure. We are not liable for any failure or delay in performing any obligation under these Terms that is caused by an event beyond our reasonable control, including industrial action, failure of a utility or transport network, interruption of a communications or hosting service, cyber attack, epidemic, act of terrorism, war, fire, flood, extreme weather, or the act or omission of a government or regulator. Where such an event occurs we will tell you as soon as reasonably practicable.
18.9 Notices. Any formal notice under these Terms must be in writing. Notices to us must be sent to Michael@ProShieldUK.com and, where the notice concerns a legal claim, also to our registered office by post. Notices to you will be sent to the email address you gave us. A notice sent by email is deemed received at 9.00 am on the next working day after sending. A notice sent by post is deemed received on the second working day after posting.
18.10 Survival. Clauses 6, 7.5, 9, 13, 15, 17 and 18 survive any suspension or withdrawal of your access to the Site.
18.11 Headings. Clause headings are for convenience only and do not affect the interpretation of these Terms.
ProShield Distribution Ltd — Website Terms of Use, version 1.0. Registered in England and Wales, company number 17388760. Registered office: Marland House, 13 Huddersfield Road, Barnsley, England S70 2LW.
Arc-rated gloves and leather protectors do NOT protect against shock or voltage. Youngstown® and the Youngstown Glove Company name and logo are trade marks of Youngstown Glove Company. Kevlar® and Nomex® are registered trade marks of their respective proprietors.