Safety for all our products
Have you ever wondered whether high-tech products are safe, or do you just take their safety for granted?
Many Malvern Panalytical solutions are based on potentially hazardous techniques such as laser or X-Ray radiation and must therefore meet the requirements of numerous international Safety Standards. These requirements can be legislative but can also be driven from a marketing perspective. In the end they ensure that our products can be safely sold, installed and used everywhere in the world. As a Director of Product Safety and Compliance at Malvern Panalytical it is my responsibility to make sure that all our products meet various product safety requirements worldwide.
Already during the development process, we ensure that both Product Marketing and Engineering agree on the safety standards that a new product must comply with. We do this by regularly checking whether the design still meets the requirements of the assigned safety standards.
Evidence that our products meet these requirements can be obtained through testing. In order to assure completely unbiased results, Malvern Panalytical always outsources the whole testing process to an accredited test house. In some cases, we do the testing in-house, on behalf of an external test house. This is only allowed when the engineering department is accredited to do so. The final verdict of the testing is always done by the test house.
Take our X-ray products as an example: these products are not only tested against an international ISO standard for laboratory equipment but also against the national German X-ray standard (‘Vollschutz nach Röntgenverordnung’). This standard is generally accepted as the world’s most strict one and enables us to sell our X-ray products in almost any country. Besides that, it can give us a competitive edge.
Although the world of safety standards tries to harmonize, we see an opposite trend: many countries develop their own safety standards or testing methods. Even within Europe, countries have different safety standards, based on the same European Directives. It will always be challenging to keep track of the various standards and to assure Malvern Panalytical will always apply the right safety standards.
Product safety is also relevant in the manufacturing phase. Most safety standards require that all products leaving our supply centers must go through a series of safety tests. All test results are stored in case we need them in the future. This testing process is closely monitored to ensure that not only our products leave the supply centers in a safe state, but also to make sure our people work safely when they manufacture our products.
Our team is always happy to help you with any questions, remarks, or suggestions on product safety within Malvern Panalytical. Together we make sure that all products leaving our supply centers can safely be used because they will always comply with the strictest safety standards.
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