Category: Certification

With so much emphasis put on certification labels from Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratories (NRTLs) it becomes just as important to emphasize how much effort it takes to get such certifications. Knowing a little bit more about the ends and outs will help any consumer feel great about the quality control associated with certified products.

Partnering With NRTLs

The certification that comes from working with an NRTL is more than just a mere label. In fact, when considering the steps it takes to get such a label, it’s kind of a like a diploma. For those manufacturers whose products are certified by UL, Intertek, CSA, or any other reputable testing laboratory, certification amounts to certain rigorous steps and continuing protocol.

The Design Phase: When a company decides to seek the assistance and support of an NRTL for safety and quality assurance, the partnership begins at the drawing board. That’s right, if a manufacturer of electrical products is going to keep things completely safe and as efficient as possible, then everything begins in the design phase. Regardless of whether you’re paying Under Writers Laboratories (UL), Intertek (the organization behind the ETL mark), or Canadian Standards Association (CSA) to help with the process, every one of them is going to start by first assisting in the creation of the product. Before your product is even testable, an NRTL is going to help you design a product that will function as well as it should, and do so in a completely safe and acceptable manner.

The Testing Phase: Once an NRTL has helped a manufacturer design a product that meets all the national and international safety standards (standards that are determined by consensus among NRTLs and OSHA—in the case of the United States) they then begin a long and rigorous testing process. This is where the distinction, Nationally Recognized TESTING Laboratories, comes from. Because that’s the very thing they do. They send every single product with their label on it through a considerable amount of testing to determine that it is durable, safe, and efficient enough to don their distinctive stamp of approval.

The Audit Phase: Even after a detailed design phase and an extensive testing phase, the work isn’t done for those manufacturers that partner with an NRTL. It’s not a one-and-done approach. For any company to maintain the mark of UL, Intertek, CSA, or any other of the testing labs, they have to maintain protocol with all their standards. This is accomplished by completely unannounced audits on production procedures and compliance with standards.

In other words, for any manufacturer wearing the label, there are regular checkups from the respective NRTL officials to make sure the company is still complying with all the protocols addressed and tested in the design and testing phases. These audits happen at random and are executed to ensure that all products bearing the NRTL’s mark are keeping with the standards that warrant it. How often these audits occur depends on the standards associated with the manufacturer’s product type. For Powerblanket, this means the company is audited extensively four times a year by Intertek.

Powerblanket and Intertek

Powerblanket is proud to be associated with Intertek and to bear the laboratory’s ETL mark. Our company and engineers pass through the extensive steps and expenses necessary to warrant this label because we care about offering efficient and safe products. At Powerblanket, we don’t cut corners or go with the cheapest parts and labor. Because if we did, we wouldn’t be ETL certified.

As much as we know about what we’re doing, which is more than anyone else, we’re happy to work with a third party entity that checks our work and verifies its quality. So here’s to NRTLs everywhere for helping companies maintain the highest level of quality and safety for their valued customers.

Do you use electrical products in your operations? Who doesn’t, right? Have you ever stopped to consider what sort of liability you might be held to if these products failed? If you haven’t, then this article can clue you into some interesting information. If you have, perhaps you should read on anyway.

Non Certified Electrical Products

What’s in a certification? Well, if you’re working with electrical products, then there’s a lot. The idea of using electrical devices that haven’t been held to any third-party standard should concern us. If it doesn’t, then perhaps we’re putting too much trust in the manufacturer. True, there are great companies out there manufacturing great products, the sort of companies that we can trust, but guess what? They’re the kind of companies that get their products certified.

Does your business or facility answer to OSHA standards? If so, you’ll want to keep something in mind. OSHA safety standards for electrical equipment are as follows: Approved and acceptable equipment is defined in two ways. Either it is certified by an NRTL (Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory), or else it is the kind of product or equipment that NRTLs don’t certify. If the equipment isn’t certifiable under an NRTL, then to meet OSHA standards, it must be proven to have been inspected and tested by another federal agency. If not federal, then it has to be represented by a state, municipal, or other legal authority responsible for compliance with occupational safety.  

In other words, OSHA doesn’t consider any electrical equipment safe that doesn’t use legitimate third-party verification and certification. If you’re using non-certified electrical products then the safety hazard and failure rate could be a real gamble. What’s more, if you end up with an incident, you could find yourself answering to OSHA on the matter. However, there is an easy solution to this dilemma, and it’s this: don’t buy or work with non-certified electrical product. It’s not worth the risk.

It’s great to have a product that boasts some seemingly reputable validation from a third-party source, but not all certifications are created equal. In fact, some are entirely misleading. When it comes to purchasing products with certification labels, you need to beware of the self-proclaimed certifications being used by some manufacturers.

The CE Offender

CE, you’ve probably seen the mark before. You’ll find this mark among certification labels on a myriad of electronics. But how many of us know what it is? For example, did you know that CE isn’t a certification at all?

The CE marking is a self-identifying mark that manufacturers place on their products to declare that they are in compliance with the standards of Conformité Européenne (meaning: European Community). The CE mark is used to identify electrical products that are said, and the keyword here is “said”, to fall under the expectations set by European legislation.

However, the unfortunate downside for consumers is that some manufacturers will use this mark as a pseudo certification. Remember, CE is a self-proclaimed mark of compliance. There are no protocols, no testing, and no third-party validation necessary for a product to bare the CE mark. Any manufacturer can stamp it on their product as a claim to safety, but that claim only goes as far as the manufacturer’s word. In other words, the CE mark alone should offer no reassure to a consumer that the product is safe or efficient at what it does. So if you’re considering the purchase of a product that boasts nothing more than a CE mark, you should really reconsider ever getting it in the first place.

The National Electrical Code (Another Misused Mark)

It sounds very legitimate; doesn’t it—the National Electrical Code? But the misuse of this code is even more ridiculous than the first. This common reference is abbreviated as NEC, and is also used by some manufacturers to provide customer assurance where it isn’t warranted. The problem with touting compliance with the National Electrical Code for electronics is the simple fact that it is entirely irrelevant.

The reason for the irrelevance is the fact that the National Electric Code is used as a compliance measure for wiring commercial and residential buildings with electricity. That’s right, buildings. Now how absurd would it be for an electronics manufacturer to say their product complies with the National Electrical Code? The moral of the story, beware of self-proclaimed certification labels.

Perhaps you’ve heard of UL before. Maybe you’ve seen their insignia on the electronics you use at work and at home. You might even know what the “U” and “L” stand for. And if you are aware of what Underwriters Laboratories does, then you’re ahead of the average American. But did you know that they aren’t the only show in town?

UL and Its Competitors

UL (hereafter referred to as Underwriters Labs) is a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL) that works as a third-party, quality-assurance organization devoted to science safety testing.  A lot of what Underwriters Labs does involves electronics. While many may be familiar with their stamp or organizational mission, Underwriters Labs isn’t the only NRTL in the world. In fact, they’re only one among several. As far as North America is concerned, there are three major companies geared toward enhancing the safety and efficiency of industrial and commercial products.

Of these three, Underwriters Labs is one, CSA (Canadian Standards Association—roughly the Canadian equivalent of UL) is another, and Intertek (also labeled as ETL) is the third. These three organizations are the major forces behind safety certifications for North American based manufacturers, and while manufacturers aren’t required to adhere to their stringent guidelines, all the most reputable businesses do. In other words, if you see products of an electrical nature without one of these important stamps of approval, run from it, and run far.

The Advantages of Intertek (ETL)

While all three of these organizations are great resources for proper safety certifications, Powerblanket works with Intertek for certain reasons. The primary purpose behind the company’s decision to go with Intertek stems from the locales of industries we serve. With customers throughout the US and Canada (as well as overseas) Powerblanket needed a testing laboratory that met both Canadian and US certification standards. Of the three major Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratories mentioned here, Intertek was the clear choice.

While Underwriters Labs strictly adheres to US standards and can couple with Canadian standards, like Intertek, and while CSA is equally supportive of the same expectations in Canada, Powerblanket chose Intertek becuase of how helpful and supportive they are through the certification process. After all, gaining third-party validation from an NRTL isn’t a trite exercise. As is the case with UL and CSA, Powerblanket works with Intertek because of its commitment to quality and safety. All of Powerblanket products have undergone their stringent testing protocols for safety, which means our customers can rest assured they have both an efficient and entirely safe heating solution.

Have you ever noticed these strange marks branded on your electronics devices, the marks pictured below that is? If you have, have you ever wondered what they mean? Well, they happen to be the insignias of the three most notable Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratories.

NRTLs?

NRTLs is simply a shorter way to say Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratories. And of those that exist, the three major NRTLs are UL (Underwriters Laboratories), ETL (once ETL Labs –Electrical Testing Laboratories—now the mark of Intertek), and CSA (Canada Standards Association).

All three of these marks represent an independent and globally recognized laboratory dedicated to the safety of technologies. The common thread all these laboratories have is that they test and help regulate the safe implementation of electrical technologies. From computers to the electronics in vehicles, there laboratories have a hand in it all. In fact, if you’re reading this on a mobile device or a laptop, take a second to look underneath the keyboard or on your tablet or phone and see if you can find one of these insignias somewhere embedded in the plastic. Likely case is that you’ll see one of them, if you’re using a reputable product manufactured in the US or Canada, that is.

UL, ETL, and CSA help to ensure that the product in your hands is safe and efficient. In order to land one of these certifications, manufacturers undergo rigorous measures to meet the guidelines of safety and quality set by these laboratories. Some companies and manufacturers choose to work outside of their guidelines, but if they do, they can’t ensure that they are offering their customers a safe and reliable product.

This is why it’s important for consumers to understand the value of a product that harbors one of these stamps of approval. Any product with a UL, ETL, or CSA stamp means that it has undergone the nationally and globally-recognized standards for health, safety, and environmental concerns.  Any electrical product you buy or operate should have one of these marks on it.

Powerblanket and Intertek (ETL)

We here at Powerblanket® fully back the efforts of these laboratories and work specifically with Intertek to ensure safety and efficiency in our technology. Powerblanket chooses to work with Intertek because of the compliance they offer for products sold and manufactured in both the US and Canada. (If you look at the logo, the “C” stands for Canada, and the “US” stands for United States). That’s why Powerblanket works through all the qualifications necessary to brand all our products with the ETL mark of approval. Powerblanket engineers know what it takes to make Powerblanket heating solutions both efficient and entirely safe.

Thanks to organizations like Intertek and the others, manufacturers are held accountable for the safety they either do or don’t offer in their products. Powerblanket has always had safety as the primary concern in the production of our standard and custom heating solutions. In other words, Powerblanket offers the safest and most efficient heating blankets on the market.

So from all of us here at Powerblanket, here’s to organizations like Intertek that keep us all a little safer.