Hi Rick, I work in the office that administer's OSHA's NRTL Program, so my answer will be focused exclusively on product safety of equipment intended for use in a U.S. workplace.
OSHA only has regulatory authority over employers, so from OSHA's perspective, you as an equipment manufacturer have no legal requirement to have your equipment tested or certified. The employer (your customers) have the legal requirement to demonstrate to OSHA that the equipment is "Acceptable" as defined in 29 CFR 1910.399 http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2014-title29-vol5/pdf/CFR-2014-title29-vol5-sec1910-399.pdf which reads: Acceptable. An installation or equipment is acceptable to the Assistant Secretary of Labor, and approved within the meaning of this subpart S: (1) If it is accepted, or certified, or listed, or labeled, or otherwise determined to be safe by a nationally recognized testing laboratory recognized pursuant to ยง1910.7; or (2) With respect to an installation or equipment of a kind that no nationally recognized testing laboratory accepts, certifies, lists, labels, or determines to be safe, if it is inspected or tested by another Federal agency, or by a State, municipal, or other local authority responsible for enforcing occupational safety provisions of the National Electrical Code, and found in compliance with the provisions of the National Electrical Code as applied in this subpart; or (3) With respect to custom-made equipment or related installations that are designed, fabricated for, and intended for use by a particular customer, if it is determined to be safe for its intended use by its manufacturer on the basis of test data which the employer keeps and makes available for inspection to the Assistant Secretary and his authorized representatives. However, as you are likely aware, most manufacturers take on the burden of having their products certified to minimize liability, to minimize problems with local inspectors, and as a selling point to their clients. One of a kind equipment would fall under item 3 above. To be "acceptable" (to OSHA), you as the manufacturer must evaluate and test the equipment and provide the data to your customer so they can provide it to OSHA if asked. While there has been no official interpretation, the general feeling within OSHA is if you make 1 product, you are fine with option 3 above. If you make 2, you now must comply with option 1 above (certified by an NRTL). Of course, the requirements imposed by a local AHJ may be different, and my responses do not consider any liability risks. If you have nay further questions, feel free to contact me at my OSHA account: Kevin Robinson OSHA NRTL Program robinson.ke...@dol.gov 202-693-1911 On Sun, Dec 14, 2014 at 3:32 PM, Rick Busche <rick.bus...@qnergy.com> wrote: > > It is always my desire to provide products that are CE Marked for Europe > and NRTL listed for North America. That said, I continue to find products > delivered for our own production environment that carry no safety marking > that I can identify. I have discussed this concern with other engineers who > worked in previous companies who indicated that they NEVER were required to > have certification on their products. > > > > As I understand it I could deliver a one of a kind system to a unique > customer without certification in North America. At what point is > certification required? Is it based on the quantity of systems, the > customer, the AHJ, OSHA or marketing? Is it allowable to ship a unique, > prototype system to a specialized customer, without NRTL? > > > > Thanks > > > > Rick > > > - > ---------------------------------------------------------------- > > This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc > discussion list. 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To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to <emc-p...@ieee.org> All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://www.ieee-pses.org/emc-pstc.html Attachments are not permitted but the IEEE PSES Online Communities site at http://product-compliance.oc.ieee.org/ can be used for graphics (in well-used formats), large files, etc. Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ Instructions: http://www.ieee-pses.org/list.html (including how to unsubscribe) List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html For help, send mail to the list administrators: Scott Douglas <sdoug...@ieee.org> Mike Cantwell <mcantw...@ieee.org> For policy questions, send mail to: Jim Bacher: <j.bac...@ieee.org> David Heald: <dhe...@gmail.com>
