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A number
of standards organizations exist that promulgate
safety standards. These may be voluntary
organizations or government agencies.
American
National Standards Institute
A major American standards organization is the
American National Standards Institute (ANSI).
Usually, members of a particular industry will
voluntarily form a committee to study safety issues
and propose standards. Those standards are then
recommended to ANSI, which reviews and adopts them.
Many government regulations require that products
sold or used must comply with a particular ANSI
standard.
Testing
laboratories
Product safety testing, for the United States, is
largely controlled by the Consumer Product Safety
Commission. In addition, work-place related products
come under the jurisdction of OSHA[verification
needed], which certifies independent testing
companies as Nationally Recognized Testing
Laboratories (NRTL).
For other countries, there are many other
organizations that have accreditation to test and/or
submit test reports for safety certification. These
are typically referred to as a Notified or Competent
Body. The most common is the IECEE Certification
Body Scheme.
Government
agencies
Many government agencies set safety standards for
matters under their jurisdiction, such as:
* the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
* the United States Environmental Protection Agency
* the Food and Drug Administration
Non-US bodies
* British Standards Institution
* Canadian Standards Association
* Deutsches Institut für Normung
* International Organization for Standardization |
