FIRE & ELECTRICAL SAFETY TEST-LAID PLANS
Matthew Emery, Electrical Safety Expert at TÜV SÜD, looks at the ways you can ensure the safety of electrical products.
The EN 60335 series of standards for electrical household equipment is used to evaluate and prove conformity with the essential health and safety requirements of the European Low Voltage directive for electrical products.
EN 60335 deals with the common hazards presented by appliances
within household or similar environments. It is the most widely applied standard for electrical safety testing for domestic appliances. The safety tests that it requires include a high voltage test, earth bond and ground continuity, and a leakage current test
The standard outlines that in order to mitigate risk, design criteria should be specified that will eliminate, reduce or guard against hazards. If this is not possible, because the equipment’s function would be impaired, the use of protective means must be additionally specified. Either in addition to the first two measures, or if neither are appropriate, markings and instructions should make clear the risks to the end-user.
Because there is such a broad range of electrical products, with a potentially endless list of possible faults, the relevant standards are deliberately not prescriptive. So, it is vital that a risk assessment is undertaken by considering the specific product in
terms of how the end-user will use it, potential hazards and environmental considerations.
The laws of demand and supply are fuelling the significant rise in counterfeit products. Modern consumers often have a preference for appliances and other electrical goods that are cheap over any concerns about quality or safety. This not only has major implications for the safety of end-users, but also for reputable brand owners and manufacturers who, while taking product safety and compliance seriously, may be caught out by a failure within their supply chain.
This is becoming a particular issue for UK and European manufacturers which design and develop products in their own country, but outsource the manufacture to China. While they may have checked their immediate supplier in China, can they be assured that the various component manufacturers further down the supply chain are as rigorous in their quality control and as honest in their approach?
The standard requires that not only should designers take into account normal operating conditions, but also likely fault conditions, as well as foreseeable misuse and external influences such as temperature, moisture and power surges. Appliances must therefore be constructed so that as a result of abnormal or careless operation, the risk of fire or mechanical damage, as well as impairing safety or protection against electric shock is obviated as far as practicable.
The test qualification process should therefore take into account all possible faults and test for them. A risk assessment process should address all of these, as well as possible misuse by the end user. The safety of both end-users and service personnel must be considered as paramount.
Expanding beyond basic safety requirements to ensure that the product does the job from the end- user’s perspective is therefore vital. This means the issue of possible misuse must also be included within the risk assessment and that recommendations are included within the user manual. Best advice would be to ‘go as far as society’s values and common sense suggest’. The risk assessment is the proof that you have considered all areas of electrical safety as far as practicable and mitigated against any possible fire or safety risk to the best of your ability.
If a product has a fault, it is not necessary for it to stay working, but the standards require that it must remain safe. While it is impossible to prevent all faults and fires, there is clearly a best practice approach that should be taken to minimise the risk.
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