> Diverging only slightly from the topic, I've noted that Canadian
customers
> are the most vocal and insistent on CSA or C-UL approvals on electrical
> equipment they buy from us, presumably products used in the workplace.
I'm
> left with the opinion that Canadian workplace safety is either (1) more
> aggressively enforced, or (2) more adamantly sought by employers for
> liability protection. Likely the former (1) dominates as well as (2)
being
> a factor.
I'd like to add a bit of clarification, if I may. The product safety legal
requirements in Canada differ significantly from those of the USA. Canada
has legal requirements that are uniform across the country. This applies
not only to the workplace, but all locations. You can not sell these
products anywhere in Canada, unless they are certified.
The USA on the other hand, does not have any uniform, country-wide legal
requirements, except for the work-place requirements of OSHA (NRTL
certification). Certain states, cities and counties have their own
regulations, which may, or may not, be equivalent. Other localities may
have their own unique requirements. Many jurisdictions require
certification to UL standards; others have different requirements (eg. the
State of Oregon will accept CSA certified products in lieu of UL). Yet
other localities may have no regulations at all.
So the only uniform requirement in the USA is the work-place related OSHA
NRTL program, while in Canada the regulations apply uniformly, regardless
of where the product is used.
> And, from feedback I've received on two occasions, the customers are
> somewhat annoyed by having to schedule/pay a CSA inspector to make that
> special visit to personally evaluate the safety merits of a product
> on-site. The resulting cost, so I've been told, is about $600.
(Canadian
> $, I presume.) Plus, of course, the delay in use of the product that is
> incurred when inspection is required.
Yes, but please note that this is only applicable to products that are sent
to Canada without the required certification. There is no need for on-site
inspection of certified products. (Yes, there are some minor exceptions,
such as medical equipment installations in hospitals, and also major
electrical installations such as a large computer mainframe).
On-site certification ("Special Inspection" and "Special Acceptance") are
intended for small volume shipments of uncertified products. Examples
include such things as a large priting press sold to some newspaper, or a
large electric motor sold to a wood mill; products that are more
economically certified on-site, rather than type-approved, since the sale
only involves a very few units. These on-site programs are also an option
for getting products on the market quickly, while awaiting completion of
the certification process (ie. panic-mode, poor advance planning :-)
> I contrast, I get notably fewer requests from USA customers for UL
> approvals. Considering the relative sizes of our two countries, does
this
> not speak poorly for workplace safety/OSHA enforcement in the USA?
Regards,
Egon Varju
