Hello All, Just had a short emailversation with Dick Pittenger regarding his response (enclosed below). We both agreed that while his response may be true in the Consumer Product world, it is not correct with respect to the Workplace (under OSHA's control); And that happens to be where Mr. Harlowe's equipment is headed for (as determined in an emailversation with Mr. Harlowe earlier today).
OSHA requires all electrical equipment to be Listed, Labelled, etc, per the earlier and very comprehensive response on this topic submitted by Ron Pickard. Regards, Art Michael Int'l Product Safety News A.E. Michael, Editor P.O. Box 1561 PSTC Middletown CT 06457-8061 U.S.A. Phone : (860) 344-1651 Fax : (860) 346-9066 Email : i...@connix.com Website: http://www.safetylink.com ISSN : 1040-7529 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * International Product Safety Bookshop * * Check out our current offerings! * * <http://www.safetylink.com/bookshop.html> * * A new service of the Safety Link * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- Forwarded message ---------- List-Post: emc-pstc@listserv.ieee.org Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 13:44:06 -0500 From: pitt...@pmifeg.com To: emc-p...@ieee.org Hello Brian: Concerning your questions about the requirement for UL Listing/CSA Certification for electrical equipment used in the USA and Canada, here's my two cent's worth (this is based on 20+ years of handling submittals to both agencies): For the USA, NFPA 70 (the National Electrical Code) makes reference to use of Listed equipment, meaning that electrical construction equipment, conduit, outlets, boxes, circuit breakers AND utilization equipment such as appliances which are permanently connected to the branch circuit, must be evaluated and covered by an NRTL such as UL. Thus, any installation that will be subjected to an electrical inspection needs to be made-up of Listed equipment. If not, the inspector performing the inspection must make the judgment himself concerning suitability of the components. Some states and cities are not willing to take on that responsibility and make it very difficult to use non-Listed equipment. Field inspections by UL are possible but cost-prohibitive. For cord-connected portable equipment, it is entirely possible to avoid any Listing at all since the user simply takes the product home and plugs it in with no electrical inspection taking place. Case in point is holiday lighting strands, many of which are on store shelves with no Listing Marks in evidence. In reality, most reputable manufacturers want, and in-the-know consumers demand, a third-party Listing of some sort. Personally, I wouldn't want any electrical product in my home that didn't meet at least such minimum levels of safety standards such as UL's (indeed some of the products that do have the Mark are marhinal at best).. Additionally, with the product liability climate in the USA, manufacturers want the extra assurance that an outside organization has agreed that a minimum safety standard has been met. This can be very beneficial during litigation. For Canada, Certifications or field inspections of electrical equipment are mandated by law. Therefore, in most instances, a Certification is the most economical procedure. For low-volume equipment, field inspections are possible but again expensive. Note that it's very common now for manufacturers to submit to UL or CSA for coverage in both the USA and Canada-one project for a small additional expense covers requirements for both and allows for markings acceptable to both countries to be placed on each unit. Hope this information helps some. R. Pittenger PMI Food Equipment Group Troy, Ohio --------- This message is coming from the emc-pstc discussion list. To cancel your subscription, send mail to majord...@ieee.org with the single line: "unsubscribe emc-pstc" (without the quotes). For help, send mail to ed.pr...@cubic.com, j...@gwmail.monarch.com, ri...@sdd.hp.com, or roger.volgst...@compaq.com (the list administrators). --------- This message is coming from the emc-pstc discussion list. To cancel your subscription, send mail to majord...@ieee.org with the single line: "unsubscribe emc-pstc" (without the quotes). For help, send mail to ed.pr...@cubic.com, j...@gwmail.monarch.com, ri...@sdd.hp.com, or roger.volgst...@compaq.com (the list administrators).
