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Introduction to Product Safety Design & Testing
By Mark L. Casey | August 8, 2008
In the USA, the acronym UL is understood by most people to refer to Underwriter’s Laboratories. Most consumers have some dim idea of what UL does. For professionals involved in the design and manufacture of consumer products, the role of UL and, more importantly, the requirements for product safety testing and certification must be more than a dim idea. Product safety must be a central component in our design.
Obviously no firm intends to produce and sell a product that is a hazard to its users. First of all, that would be a cruel thing to do. Despite the vilification of business by many people, for the most part the people who run companies do not intend to harm their customers. Besides, marketing a product that is not safe can be the ruin of a company. [I am going to resist the urge to get into a discussion of tobacco and alcohol companies and keep the focus on consumer products and devices.] It is therefore vital that we give careful attention to the domain of product safety design, testing, and certification. Even though my premise is that firms do not intentionally create unsafe products, it still happens. Sites like Consumer Affairs are filled with reports of products that are recalled or discontinued because of safety issues. When this occurs, lawsuits abound.
Some large OEMs have their own product safety experts in-house that know the ins and outs of safety design and certification. Other firms rely on outside firms that specialize in this field. One such firm is Austin, TX-based High Tech Design Safety, LLC. Artful Sourcing recently spoke to president and principal consultant Steve Barcik about safety issues.
AS: Periodically products are removed from the market because they are deemed to be unsafe to end users. What are the most common reasons that these products made it to the market?
Steve Barcik: Well that is a great question. The main reason products do not conform is that the design never included conformity from the beginning. The second reason is that the products were built by a third party and either lacked detailed specifications or the manufacturer substituted parts or finishes outside the scope of the specifications. Both items are corporate culture or quality control issues. These problems cost companies millions of dollars and loss of sales. Now let me give a quick plug for product safety as I see it. Product Safety is built in from the beginning; it cannot be inspected into the product nor tested into the product. At HTDS, LLC we start at the beginning with our clients by identifying the requirements for a proposed product, then integrating those requirements into the design. For example, all electrical equipment must have certain properties and use certain types of components. There are cheaper ways to build these systems. However, if the design is not right, the correct parts selected, and the system built as designed, it will not conform nor perform as intended.
AS: How could these firms have prevented their products from being unsafe?
Steve Barcik: A detailed plan to meet product safety requirements should be implemented, followed, and completed. Here is a simple example: Toy Blocks. Toys must include several features. They must be large enough to not be swallowed by younger customers, the finishes must be non-toxic, and the blocks should not have sharp edges. Simple, right? Yet every year toys are recalled due to simple defects in design like being too small to prevent swallowing, being painted with lead based paints or other toxic paints, or having inappropriately sharp shapes.
As we like to say, following all the standards makes conformity, and good design and implementation makes safety.
AS: What is the role of agency certification firms like UL and TUV?
Steve Barcik: Companies like TUV and UL are the final phase of the product safety process.
AS: Explain how selling a product into multiple countries complicates safety issues (if it does).
Steve Barcik: I, along with many of my peers, have spent the last several years working towards harmonization to get standards to match as much as possible across countries. This effort has begun to pay off, and in many cases the need for multiple different standards has been greatly reduced. Now before everyone cheers, many countries do want their own standards and testing, so plan on the process being longer and more expensive to get multi-country certifications. However, each country’s standards are more and more similar each year. If this route is for you then get the requirements down early and design in the most stringent from each country and then verify when complete.
Conclusion
Early involvement by product safety experts in the design process is critical for all firms with products intended for human use. Derek Bok said: “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.” In a very similar way, if you think designing safe products is expensive, try unsafe products. Actually, please don’t.
Topics: Agency Certifications, Design, Safety | No Comments »
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