• • • SAFETY IN ENGINEERING • • •
Alternative approaches to product safety testing
Matt Emery, chief engineer at TÜV SÜD, a global product testing and certification organisation
raditionally, safety testing has been done at an offsite test house. However, there is an alternative, and equally comprehensive, approach that manufacturers may want to consider. This is to achieve a test report or product certificate from an independent third-party, such as a National Certification Body, CB Test Laboratory (CBTL) or Local Technical Representative (LTR). This approach is referred to as Customer Testing
T
Facilities (CTF), which is particularly beneficial if equipment is expensive or too large to ship offsite, requires a specialist test set up and support equipment, or if the product is regularly updated or many variants are introduced. There are four CTF stages.
CTF Stage 1
One of the most popular alternative approaches to lab-based safety testing. It is a low maintenance approach from the manufacturer’s perspective as all they have to do is provide a work area for the third-party test engineer, who will provide all the required calibrated test equipment. Having the test engineer on site speeds up test times, as face-to-face interaction between engineer and client means that any non-compliances discovered during testing can be resolved more quickly.
CTF Stage 2 Tests are performed by the manufacturer, with their own test equipment, in their own laboratory. It
does, however, necessitate a third-party test engineer witnessing the entirety of all test programmes. This significantly reduces test times as the manufacturer’s staff doing the testing have a greater understanding of the product and can redress any issues more quickly than a third-party expert could. However, their laboratory must still be assessed against certain key criteria.
CTF Stage 3
This alternative is of particular use to those manufacturers with an established safety test laboratory process and expert staff of their own. The same Stage 2 requirements apply, but witnessing is only carried out on selected parts of each approved new test programme, the manufacturer must also carry out testing in the presence of a third-party laboratory. While this requires some third-party oversight, it does allow the manufacturer to schedule tests at their own convenience and removes any imposition upon the working culture of the manufacturer as there is no direct third-party involved in the day-to-day testing.
CTF Stage 4
Stage 4 involves witnessing only some part of the selected test programme, as identified by the NCB. Testing is carried out by the manufacturer’s personnel and witnessed by third-party laboratory staff, who supervise, check and witness all critical aspects. This reduces test times and costs.
Finding the right test partner Live stream video can be used as an alternative to on-site witnessing once the CTF has been assessed and accepted for specified tests. This delivers great value, as a manufacturer can access testing expertise wherever they are based, and allows engineering staff to re-focus on other activities within the business. If any problems do arise during the test, the customer doesn’t have to travel to the test facility to rectify them, as they can simply log on and speak directly with the engineer. The international standard ISO/IEC 17025 sets out the general requirements for the ‘Competence of Testing & Calibration Laboratories,’ to ensure that the laboratory you choose:
1. Operates a suitable quality system. 2. Is technically competent.
3. Is able to produce technically valid results.
ISO/IEC 17025 addresses every element of management responsibility and activity within the laboratory environment. This means it is not exclusive to the individuals within it, such as the test lab manager or quality manager. The standard involves all laboratory staff whose functions relate to the quality of the data generated by a laboratory.
While the view of testing is still often one of the traditional test laboratories, it is clear that manufacturers actually have wider options. No longer tied to testing at third-party laboratories, the choice can be made to undertake tests themselves, outsource, or a combination of the two. However, one consideration is that if you use CTF as part of the IECEE CB Certification scheme, the manufacturer’s test facility is subject to annual audit by the partner CB Test Laboratory. Testing is often something that ‘just happens,’ and is rarely reviewed as it is not considered something that could be used to improve business efficiency. Identifying improvements and alternatives to the current status quo could significantly enhance the testing process.
28 ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING • JULY/AUGUST 2024
electricalengineeringmagazine.co.uk
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54
