2.10 International Standards

By the end of this unit you should have developed a knowledge and understanding of:

the importance of national and international standards in product design
how these can be applied to your own design learning

Introduction

For products to be commercially successful, they must conform to strict national, European and international standards. These standards cover a wide range of areas.

Certification with standards such as ISO9001 (Quality Management) is not compulsory, but can be essential when working with other companies that are ISO 9001 certified.

Such standards may become obsolete, updated or replaced over time so its good practice to keep up to date with any standards that are relevant to product design.

The following page looks at legislation and standards that you should be familiar with as a design student. Note that some of this content was previously covered in the unit on Health and Safety (1.9)

british standards institute

BSI is a national organisation formed to devise agreed standard procedures for performing a wide range of tasks. The range of current standards in the BSI portfolio exceeds 30,000 as of 2017.

If a British Standard has been accepted it will carry the prefix BS EN.

Examples include:

BS EN71-1: 2014 Safety of toys

BS EN 62115: Electrical toys. Safety

BS EN 50361: 2001 Basic standard for absorption rate of electromagnetic fields from mobile phones!

international standards organisation

BSI is one of over 150 national standards bodies that are part of the International Standards Organisation (ISO) where internationally recognised standards are agreed and put in place.

Standards for management services, such as ISO 9001, are applied worldwide with many companies only dealing with others that conform to the standard.

Key international standards include:

BS EN ISO 9001 quality management

BS EN ISO 14000 environmental management

BS EN ISO 50001 energy management

BS EN ISO 31000 risk management

The presence of a CE mark on a product means a product conforms to all relevant European safety standards and its presence is mandatory for all items sold in the EU.

restriction of hazardous substances

This directive (2002/95/EC) is a European directive that restricts the use of specific hazardous materials found in electronic and electrical products.

As of July 2006, all relevant products sold in the EU were required to be RoHS compliant!

Out of the ten specific substances that RoHS restricts, four are metals: Lead, Mercury, Cadmium and Chromium.

NOTE THAT - RoHS details the materials that can be used in a product.

weee directive

The Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive (2002/96/EC) is a mandatory European directive that covers the end of life of electric and electronic equipment.

The directive came into force in 2016 and all relevant products must show the crossed out ‘wheelie bin’ sticker to show compliance.

battery directive

The battery directive (2013/56/EU) is an amendment to the directive (2006/66/EC) which, in combination with the RoHS and Waste from Electrical Equipment (WEEE) directives, deals specifically with the restriction of hazardous substances and safe disposal of batteries.

The directive also requires all batteries and accumulators to show a crossed out ‘wheelie bin’ to explain that batteries should not be disposed of in normal waste. Clear instructions for safe removal and disposal must be provided with the product for it to conform with the directive.

polymer codes for recycling

Mobius loop

The Mobius Loop is an internationally recognised recycling symbol of three arrows, which shows that a product may be recycled.

The loop may also include a percentage or, on a polymer product, an SPI (Society of Plastics Industry) code which is used to state the polymer used in its production. This is so that, during recycling, materials can be effectively separated.

The EU packaging directive

The EU packaging and packaging waste directive (94/62/EC) aims to limit the production of, and prompt the recycling and reuse of, packaging materials. The directive covers all areas of packaging from commercial to household. The most recent amendment states that:

at least 60 percent (by weight) of packing waste must be recovered or incinerated
all packaging must be marked with the specific materials used to assist all identification and classification

Each member state has to ensure that all new packaging complies with these requirements:

keep the weight and volume of packaging to a minimum
reduce hazardous substances and materials with the packaging materials
design reusable or recoverable packaging

EC Energy label

Since 2010, the label shown has been introduced which uses pictograms to show key information. The scale now runs from A+++ to D.

The EC energy label is a compulsory system required on a wide range of household appliances. The label must be displayed by manufacturers and retailers to assist customers in making purchasing decisions.

The use of a coloured scale from A (most efficient) to G (least efficient) gives consumers an easy comparison.

eco labelling

Eco labels are a wide range of voluntary environmental certifications given to companies/products that are seen to meet specific environmental targets set for a product category.

Recognised across Europe, the EU Ecolabel is a label of environmental excellence that is awarded to products and services meeting high environmental standards throughout their life-cycle, from raw materials extraction to production, distribution and disposal.

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) logo can be found on products made from timber, paper or other forest products which are sourced from well managed forests and/or recycled materials.

FSC certified forests are managed in an environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable manner, protecting the wildlife and people who live there.

FSC is the only forest certification scheme endorsed by WWF, Greenpeace and the Woodland Trust.

Energy star

The EU ENERGY STAR program was developed from an agreement between the EU and US to standardise how IT equipment was labelled to show the energy used.

Products are assessed on their power usage when idle and in sleep mode, and these figures are collated into a database to allow customers to make informed decisions on

computers: desktop, laptop and tablets
displays: monitors and signage displays
imaging equipment: printers, scanners and copiers.

Test yourself:

EU Energy Star

FSC

EU Eco-label

BSI

WEEE/Battery

EC Energy Label

ISO

Mobius Loop / Recycling

Summary

British standards verification or conformity can only be applied where the relevant standard has been met.
If a British Standard has been accepted by a European standardisation organisation it will carry the prefix BS EN.
The presence of a CE mark means a product conforms to all relevant European safety standards and is mandatory for products sold in the EU.
As of July 2016, all relevant products sold in the EU were required to RoHS compliant.
Eco-labels are a wide range of voluntary environmental certifications given to companies/products that are seen to meet specific environmental targets set for a product category.

Prep 62

Revision notes

Questions often come up in the exam specifically about legislation and standards so ensure you know what they are, their acronyms and what products they may apply to.

You may be able to link some of the learning to your NEA with regards to BSI and FSC (if you are using wood in your prototype).

You should be familiar with the polymer symbols for recycling, especially if you are using packaging or polymers in your product.

Find examples of products with the BSI and CE logos on them. Also find a BS EN that is relevant to your product design such as furniture, toys, sports equipment etc.

It will also be useful to refer to eco and energy labelling when answering questions about responsible design and environmental issues associated with product design.

L62-International-standards.ppsx