I read in !emc-pstc that cherryclo...@aol.com wrote (in <131.6a66623.296 70...@aol.com>) about 'EMC-related safety issues', on Fri, 4 Jan 2002: >As I recall, the EU's Product Liability Directive (85/374/EEC amended by >99/34/EC) requires manufacturers to produce products that are: "as safe as >people generally have the right to expect".
I believe it does. > >Note that it does not require things to be 100% safe - that is impossible. Indeed. > >The real problem is that whether a product really is "as safe as people >generally have the right to expect" is usually tested in a court of law where >there are lots of photographs of a dead or maimed person or a burnt-down >building, or whatever. > >It is difficult to argue that your product is safe enough when there are >relatives sobbing all over the courtroom. Indeed. > >The trick, I believe, is not to be in that position in the first place. >Design your products using the latest safety knowledge and test them well to >discover if they have any weaknesses you did not address. How do you decide what tests to do **for weaknesses you don't suspect**? Isn't that fundamentally impossible? >And yes, you must consider foreseeable misuse and stupid users too. (The >trouble with trying to make something foolproof is that fools are so >ingenious!) Exactly! Is replacing the mains fuse in a product with a bit of fencing wire 'foreseeable misuse'? I have put this question to an IEC safety committee; it's not just a debating point! > >Then hopefully you won't ever find yourself trying to defend your design >decisions in a court of law. Hopefully! Will your CEO accept that 'hopefully' your design won't put him in jail for corporate manslaughter? But can you ever give a better assurance than 'hopefully', at the necessary 1 in a billion probability level? I think not. >Also, your company's exposure to significant financial and commercial risks >will be reduced - this is the key to justifying the expense of good safety >design to your employers. But it seems that the expense of 'good safety design', as determined by some safety experts, is going through the roof. -- Regards, John Woodgate, OOO - Own Opinions Only. http://www.jmwa.demon.co.uk After swimming across the Hellespont, I felt like a Hero. ------------------------------------------- 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: majord...@ieee.org with the single line: unsubscribe emc-pstc For help, send mail to the list administrators: Michael Garretson: pstc_ad...@garretson.org Dave Heald davehe...@mediaone.net For policy questions, send mail to: Richard Nute: ri...@ieee.org Jim Bacher: j.bac...@ieee.org 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.
