Hi John, The following article was published in the last issue of "Int'l Product Safety News". Enjoy!
Regards, Art Michael Int'l Product Safety News A.E. Michael, Editor P.O. Box 1561 INT Middletown CT 06457-8061 U.S.A. Phone : (860) 344-1651 Fax : (860) 346-9066 Email : i...@safetylink.com Website: http://www.safetylink.com ISSN : 1040-7529 _EC2000 & Beyond_ "Major Changes Proposed for the Low Voltage Directive" by Arthur E. Michael, Editor, Int'l Product Safety News* The working document "LVD Update.4" details proposals which have been in development since 2001 for updating of the Low Voltage Directive 73/23/EEC (LVD). There are significant changes proposed and we draw your attention to the following: Re Voltage Range: "... for use with a supply or output voltage not exceeding 1000 Volt for alternating current and 1500 Volt for direct current.... ." The minimum voltages, previously designated as 50V AC & 75V DC are noticeably absent in the proposal. Therefore, the lower end of the range is proposed to be 0V AC or DC. Re Components: "The directive shall not apply to the following equipment: Basic components intended to be incorporated into electrical equipment whose compliance with the essential requirements of this Directive cannot be assessed independently". The original LVD called for equipment to be "safe" - and then is fairly quiet on what "safe" entails. The proposed directive, in Annex I (titled, "Essential health and safety requirements") provides a long list of required 'protections'. Under the topic of Electric Shock and other electrical hazards it lists: Leakage Current, Energy Supply, ESD, Arcs and these must all take into account electrical, mechanical, chemical and physical stresses. Additional hazards that the user must be protected from include Fire Hazards, Mechanical Hazards, Other Hazards (including explosions caused by the product itself or by substances produced, emitted or used by the equipment); this section lists an additional 12 subdivisions of hazards. Annex I also calls for protection again hazards arising from incorrect functioning, hazards arising from electric, magnetic and electromagnetic fields, other ionizing and non-ionizing radiation. Ergonomic compliance is also a requirement of this proposal. The proposal provides a detailed listing of "Information Requirements" which covers elements such as identification of the equipment by means such as type, batch, serial number or similar. It also requires instructions, identification of the manufacturer, and the name of the responsible person in the EC if the manufacturer is not established in the EC. The proposal calls for instructions for safe installation, maintenance, cleaning, operation, storage and warnings where potential risks are not evident. There is much more of interest in this proposal that we cannot address due to space considerations. The latest iteration of the full report, titled, "LVD Update.4" is now available on the Europa site, we located a copy at: <europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/electr_equipment/lv/direct/lvdupdate4.pdf> And, a report commissioned by the UK's Dept. of Trade and Industry, titled, "Limited Regulatory Impact Assessment on the revised limits for the Low Voltage Directive", dated APR 2002, can be found at: <www.com-met2005.org.uk/events_lit/newsletters/DTI_LVD_Report.pdf> Reprinted with permission of "Int'l Product Safety News", Vol 16, No, 5 Sept/Oct 2003. Copyright 2003 Arthur E. Michael For further information, see: <www.safetylink.com/ipsninfo.html> REF: IPSN1608.A 3.4K char's ------------------------------------- On Wed, 5 Nov 2003, Tyra, John wrote: > Hello Everyone, > > I have read on this list and have been told by TUV that the lower limits for > the voltages of products which fall under the Low Voltage Directive may be > eliminated so that low voltage products would now fall under that directive. > > On the Europa website I read an LVD Working Document, dated 7/13/01, that > there were two proposals: > > 1. Delete the lower limit and introduce risk assessment similar to the > Machinery Directive........ > 2. Leave the limits as is but add an annex to include certain low voltage > products, lighting system, household appliances, TV/Radio etc.... > > I found a Working Guide for the LVD dated 3/7/02 which showed that there > are countries which favor one or the other proposal while the UK favored no > change.. > > Does anyone have any new information or can point me in the direction which > would give me a more recent an update of this proposal? I am very interested > in where this proposal is heading.............. > > Thanks in advance for your help.......... > > Regards, > > > John Tyra > Product Safety and Regulatory Compliance Manager > > Bose Corporation > The Mountain, MS-450 > Framingham, MA 01701-9168 > Phone: 508-766-1502 > Fax: 508-766-1145 > john_t...@bose.com > > This message is from the IEEE EMC Society Product Safety Technical Committee emc-pstc discussion list. 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