Difference between revisions of "Harmonised standards"
(Created page with "'''Standards''' are technical specifications defining requirements for products, production processes, services or test-methods. These specifications are voluntary. They are developed by industry and market actors following some basic principles such as consensus, openness, transparency and non-discrimination. Standards ensure interoperability and safety, reduce costs and facilitate companies' integration in the value chain and trade. A '''harmonised standard''' is a Eu...") |
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Latest revision as of 23:11, 15 January 2023
Standards are technical specifications defining requirements for products, production processes, services or test-methods. These specifications are voluntary. They are developed by industry and market actors following some basic principles such as consensus, openness, transparency and non-discrimination. Standards ensure interoperability and safety, reduce costs and facilitate companies' integration in the value chain and trade.
A harmonised standard is a European standard developed by a recognised European Standards Organisation: CEN, CENELEC, or ETSI. It is created following a request from the European Commission to one of these organisations.
(Source: European Commission, European standards)
In easy words
For the purposes of the CE marking, the manufacturer can rely on special "set of rules" developed to ensure that the products are safe in relation to certain safety aspects (for example: electrical safety, fire resistance, distance of protective barriers from dangerous areas, etc.). These rules are called "standards" or "technical standards".
The CE marking laws identify some standards, called "harmonised standards", which are considered by the same laws suitable and sufficient to deal with the particular safety risk covered by the standard.
Many of these standards require the manufacturer to carry out standardized laboratory tests on the product, i.e. they must be carried out exactly as indicated in the standard in order to be considered valid.
The CE marking laws also specify the requirements that laboratories must possess for carrying out laboratory tests concerning product safety.
The identification of the harmonized standards applicable to a certain product and of the test laboratories that are accredited to carry out these tests are activities that can be particularly complex for the manufacturer, so that even for these activities the support of an expert consultant can help the difference in terms of times, costs and safety levels achieved.
Do you need help identifying, interpreting and implementing harmonized standards?
How we help manufacturers, distributors and importers:
We offer consulting on CE marking to manufacturers, distributors and importers. This also includes:
- identification of the obligations for your specific products
- technical support in preparing the necessary documentation
- consultancy for the identification and implementation of safety measures (e.g.: selection of safe materials and components, design changes for safety, addition of protections, photocells and interlocks, safety operating procedures, personal protection equipment, affixing written warnings and pictograms, etc.).
How we help customers:
In addition to indirectly helping consumers by offering advice to manufacturers to market safe products, we provide support to consumers by providing them with information about the meaning of the CE marking and useful advice on how to choose compliant and therefore safer products.