Straight Talk on DLC, Energy Star and Lighting Facts Testing

Posted on Categories Compliance & Certification Blog

There’s a lot of confusion out there regarding Energy Star, Lighting Facts, DLC, etc.  Hopefully this will simplify the issue and help you get your hands around it. Energy Star is for many Residential Products.  Lighting of course being one of them.  However, Energy Star does not include Commercial Equipment.  With all kinds of pressure … Continue reading “Straight Talk on DLC, Energy Star and Lighting Facts Testing”

5 Ways to Make UL Lighting Certification Easier

Posted on Categories Compliance & Certification Blog

One of the things we’ve learned over the years is that getting a safety mark for products that need approval to UL lighting standards is never as straightforward as it seems. In fact, many larger manufacturers have invested millions in dedicated compliance engineering and laboratory facilities in-house to ensure the process goes smoothly for them. … Continue reading “5 Ways to Make UL Lighting Certification Easier”

Amendment to 60601-1 Underscores Role of Safety in Device Design

Posted on Categories Compliance & Certification Blog

For those who design, manufacture, or test electromedical equipment, 60601-1 is one of the most important safety and performance standards in AAMI’s portfolio of industry standards. It is referenced so often in the daily work of medical device engineers that AAMI plans to offer this updated standard in a pocket version. 60601-1 deals with medical devices that are intended to: 1) diagnose, … Continue reading “Amendment to 60601-1 Underscores Role of Safety in Device Design”

There are No Shortcuts in the Safety Compliance Process

Posted on Categories Compliance & Certification Blog

The article posted on Product Safety Consulting facebook page regarding fake UL labels from Aleddra LED company reminds me of a project we did several years ago.  We had a client ship their products from China with UL Labels on them before UL had officially approved the product.  Murphy’s Law has a funny way of showing up … Continue reading “There are No Shortcuts in the Safety Compliance Process”

How Safe are our Safety Standards?

Posted on Categories Compliance & Certification Blog

A recent recall of surge protectors brings up some interesting issues and discussions.  MOVs are a common item used to clamp surge voltages.  However, industry has found that MOVs overheat when subjected to many surges and also overvoltage conditions.  Here’s a good report of one firms findings – http://www.circuitbreakersblog.com/tag/metal-oxide-varistors/.  UL addressed the issue in the … Continue reading “How Safe are our Safety Standards?”

DAP Certification and the Compliance Process

Posted on Categories Compliance & Certification Blog

This week we’d like to discuss the various Data Acceptance Programs (DAP) out there.  We are an approved member in UL’s DAP.  It allows us to do the testing without UL having to witness the testing.  If it passes we send the data into UL for them to review and List the products without having … Continue reading “DAP Certification and the Compliance Process”

Product Safety and the Government Shutdown

Posted on Categories Compliance & Certification Blog

There are so many things we can talk about regarding the government shutdown, but we’ll keep it in the realm of safety for today. In case you’re wondering what may happen to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) during this shutdown, they have “Excepted Employees”.  Basically, those employees that are necessary to protect against imminent … Continue reading “Product Safety and the Government Shutdown”

Welcome to the Compliance and Certification Blog

Posted on Categories Compliance & Certification Blog

We’re just getting started but we want it to be a resource for people who need help understanding UL, CE, etc. Certifications and Compliance.  Our intention is to educate and provide insight regarding the Compliance world, sort of a Compliance 101, along with important safety and recall information for the general public.  But since our … Continue reading “Welcome to the Compliance and Certification Blog”