As engineers, we should consider the safety implications of what we design, test or otherwise work on. EMI is part of that. What is considered a safety risk depends a great deal on corporate policy, the legal, political and popular climate in one's state of residence, and the kind of equipment under consideration.
As it happens, the issue of pacemaker vulnerability is addressed in more regulations than USC 47. That is why, in the United States, we have not only a limit on microwave oven leakage, but also pacemaker warning signs on microwave ovens used by the public. The robotic arm is a great example. Others are automotive airbags, or electronically controlled brakes. These sort of things are the reason why industry associations develop limits of their own. Those limits accommodate both a performance requirement and practical aspects; they can't make the product too expensive to build or no one will be able to sell them at a profit. They can't be unreliable in the field or people won't buy them at all. And they can't cause too many problems, or the company will be sued. One factor weighs against another. We are at the balance point. Regards, Cortland Richmond (What I write here is mine alone. My employer does not Concur, agree or else endorse These words, their tone, or thought.) Andrew Carson wrote: > I get the idea that we a missing the whole point > of this discussion. > > Should we as Professional Safety Engineers and > Product designers consider the safety implications > of EMC emissions ? > > The answer is a definite Yes. We have a clear duty > of care and responsibility to consider all > implications of our products being used in there > intended application. Even if the consideration on > EMC emissions and safety is "Do not be silly." We > still have to at least consider it. ... ------------------------------------------- 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.
