Rich, I agree with you with your statement "rather than address products, safety standards need to address hazards". However, the "hazard" standards must be made taking into consideration the environment in which the product is used "light industry, heavy industry, medical, office, outdoor, home, etc.". For example, a product's leakage current should be stricter if product is used in outdoor non-protected envieonments or as medical equipment. Similarly, a product's mechanical hazards should be guarded more if used by ordinary persons and less if product is used by professionally trained persons.
PETER S. MERGUERIAN -----Original Message----- From: Rich Nute To: [email protected] Sent: 9/26/01 7:01 PM Subject: Re: Applying the appropriate ENs > It is the primary end use of the product that dictates the standard(s) > required. Unfortunately, this archaic and provincial view on the part of standards organizations that standards should be per product has created problems that most of us would like to avoid. Consider product safety. The safeguards required for protection against electric shock, for example, are independent of the product. Although we have product standards for hair dryers and for computers, the requirements for safety are common. Rather than address products, safety standards need to address hazards. While the products I deal with are computer peripherals, I had the opportunity the other day to attend a seminar on insulation diagrams used for medical products. The interesting fact is that the seminar did not address anything unique to medical products. Rather, it addressed a tool -- insulation diagrams -- that is equally applicable to my products and all other products where protection against electric shock is required. Indeed, the insulation diagrams of some of my products are identical to the medical product insulation diagrams presented in the seminar! (For the purposes of electric shock, the only differences between a computer peripheral and a medical product are the limit values used for the various parts of the equipment.) I would like to see safety standards based on the hazards. I would like to see separate, independent safety standards for electric shock, electrically- caused fire, thermal injury, moving parts (kinetic energy), etc. (Note that the USA and Canada already have independent safety standards for x-radiation and electromagnetic radiations. These standards are based on the hazard, not on the product.) Doing this job is not easy. If you compare product safety standards, you will find much in common, but you will also find differences. It is these differences that cause difficulties in writing a generic safety standard. Committees are reluctant to discard any requirement on the basis that products built to the standard have a good record. Likewise, committees are reluctant to introduce a new requirement because it may cost manufacturers more money in the product design, and products built to existing requirements have a good record. Virtually no one is willing to invest in research in product safety in order to make decisions on whether or not a safety requirement is an effective safety requirement. There are a few -- very few -- exceptions. The basis of IEC 664 (dimensioning of insulation) is research. More recently, the CES has published research data on TV fires. Our EMC colleagues don't appear to be so hampered. They have peer-reviewed journals, and annual symposia reporting on the results of research. A bunch of IEEE folks are doing their best to set up an IEEE Product Safety Society. I would hope that this society will serve to improve product safety, to bring it to the same level as EMC. Best regards, Rich ------------------------------------------- This message is from the IEEE EMC Society Product Safety Technical Committee emc-pstc discussion list. Visit our web site at: http://www.ewh.ieee.org/soc/emcs/pstc/ To cancel your subscription, send mail to: [email protected] with the single line: unsubscribe emc-pstc For help, send mail to the list administrators: Michael Garretson: [email protected] Dave Heald [email protected] For policy questions, send mail to: Richard Nute: [email protected] Jim Bacher: [email protected] All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: No longer online until our new server is brought online and the old messages are imported into the new server. ------------------------------------------- This message is from the IEEE EMC Society Product Safety Technical Committee emc-pstc discussion list. Visit our web site at: http://www.ewh.ieee.org/soc/emcs/pstc/ To cancel your subscription, send mail to: [email protected] with the single line: unsubscribe emc-pstc For help, send mail to the list administrators: Michael Garretson: [email protected] Dave Heald [email protected] For policy questions, send mail to: Richard Nute: [email protected] Jim Bacher: [email protected] All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: No longer online until our new server is brought online and the old messages are imported into the new server.
