Product Safety Testing

With so many electrical product safety testing standards currently in use and many civil and legal actions pending in various courts around the world, electrical product safety testing is more critical than ever to ensure that all products are safe before they reach the end-user. Fortunately, the majority of manufacturers are fully aware of the hazards associated with electrical equipment and the ramifications of noncompliance with relevant safety standards or test house agreements.

Manufacturers need to know and understand the product safety testing standards that apply to their particular products. Significant changes are still talking place in product safety testing standards with an emphasis on the worldwide harmonization of product safety testing standards and global specifications.

Some of the popular applicable product safety testing standards are UL 60950 (information technology products), UL 1026 (household cooking appliances, UL2601 (medical electronic products). These product safety-testing standards specifically address the electrical safety testing for compliance as well as production line testing. It is important to identify and understand the applicable product safety testing standards. Many product safety testing related web sites, articles, and seminars that provide details on the specific standards.

At least one relevant standard applies to nearly every electrical product, weather it be issued at a national, European, or international level. Product safety testing standards offer not only guidance regarding the design and construction of specific types of products, but also advises about the electrical safety tests to be performed, as well as other tests such as those for temperature rise an short circuit and overload.

Electrical product safety testing at the design and development states as well as at the production stage is important to ensure that all products are safety before reaching the end-user. Many manufacturers will practice a pre-compliance testing that offers the advantage of ensuring that an electrical product is designed and constructed to meet the necessary performance levels before the manufacturer has committed to a full-scale production of the product.

From the beginning the design process for any new electrical product, the objective of the designer must ensure that the correct level of protection against electric shock is incorporated into the design. This involves considering protection for both the person who has to build the product and the eventual end-user.

Communication Certification Laboratory (CCL) provides product safety testing to UL60950. CCL has engineers that are very educated on the UL 60950 standards. Please contact CCL for any questions or if a quote is desired.