Curiosity. How long must airbags work? A car can be driven for two decades or more, by an uncontrolled number of owners, and with no mandatory inspection or service. How long is a manufacturer liable for the proper operation of those airbags? Same question for anti-lock brakes. If the warning light comes on and is ignored, who is at fault? If the warning light is disabled by an owner, and the next owner suffers injury due to improper operation of either of these systems, who is at fault? Don't give me the logical answer. I can figure that out. Knowing that the culpable seller is not a tempting target but the manufacturer is, in the present climate some bright lawyer will come up with a rationale for suing the manufacturer. It is the climate that must be changed and the IEE guide that started this thread, in my opinion, appeases this trend rather than opposes it.
---------- >From: Cortland Richmond <cortland.richm...@alcatel.com> >To: Andrew Carson <acar...@uk.xyratex.com> >Cc: emc-p...@majordomo.ieee.org >Subject: Re: EMC-related safety issues >Date: Thu, Jan 3, 2002, 12:22 PM > > > As engineers, we should consider the safety > implications of what we design, test or otherwise > work on. EMI is part of that. What is considered a > safety risk depends a great deal on corporate > policy, the legal, political and popular climate in > one's state of residence, and the kind of equipment > under consideration. > > As it happens, the issue of pacemaker vulnerability > is addressed in more regulations than USC 47. That > is why, in the United States, we have not only a > limit on microwave oven leakage, but also pacemaker > warning signs on microwave ovens used by the public. > > The robotic arm is a great example. Others are > automotive airbags, or electronically controlled > brakes. These sort of things are the reason why > industry associations develop limits of their own. > Those limits accommodate both a performance > requirement and practical aspects; they can't make > the product too expensive to build or no one will be > able to sell them at a profit. They can't be > unreliable in the field or people won't buy them at > all. And they can't cause too many problems, or the > company will be sued. One factor weighs against > another. > > We are at the balance point. > > Regards, > > Cortland Richmond > > (What I write here is mine alone. > My employer does not > Concur, agree or else endorse > These words, their tone, or thought.) > > Andrew Carson wrote: > >> I get the idea that we a missing the whole point >> of this discussion. >> >> Should we as Professional Safety Engineers and >> Product designers consider the safety implications >> of EMC emissions ? >> >> The answer is a definite Yes. We have a clear duty >> of care and responsibility to consider all >> implications of our products being used in there >> intended application. Even if the consideration on >> EMC emissions and safety is "Do not be silly." We >> still have to at least consider it. ... > > > ------------------------------------------- > This message is from the IEEE EMC Society Product Safety > Technical Committee emc-pstc discussion list. > > Visit our web site at: http://www.ewh.ieee.org/soc/emcs/pstc/ > > To cancel your subscription, send mail to: > majord...@ieee.org > with the single line: > unsubscribe emc-pstc > > For help, send mail to the list administrators: > Michael Garretson: pstc_ad...@garretson.org > Dave Heald davehe...@mediaone.net > > For policy questions, send mail to: > Richard Nute: ri...@ieee.org > Jim Bacher: j.bac...@ieee.org > > All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: > No longer online until our new server is brought online and the old > messages are imported into the new server. > ------------------------------------------- This message is from the IEEE EMC Society Product Safety Technical Committee emc-pstc discussion list. Visit our web site at: http://www.ewh.ieee.org/soc/emcs/pstc/ To cancel your subscription, send mail to: majord...@ieee.org with the single line: unsubscribe emc-pstc For help, send mail to the list administrators: Michael Garretson: pstc_ad...@garretson.org Dave Heald davehe...@mediaone.net For policy questions, send mail to: Richard Nute: ri...@ieee.org Jim Bacher: j.bac...@ieee.org All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: No longer online until our new server is brought online and the old messages are imported into the new server.
