How To Ensure Product Safety In Accordance With Iatf 16949?

By Author: Charles
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The term "product safety" refers to regulations intended to shield users from the dangers posed by the daily use and purchase of consumer goods. The ability of a product to be safe for its intended use, as determined when reviewed against a set of established rules, is known as product safety. Manufacturers and distributors must demonstrate that their products meet specified safety criteria and are safe for the intended use by the legislation's detailed test and documentation requirements. The enforcement authorities have the right to request proof within set deadlines that the prescribed legislation has been confirmed. The product safety rules require that all consumer goods be secure and conform to consumer assurances.

Clause 4.4.1.2 outlines the requirements for product safety and states the following:

• This is a new component with improved criteria that deal with ongoing and new concerns the automobile industry has regarding product and process safety.
• The management of products and procedures relating to product safety must be recorded by organizations (suppliers).
• This section covers ...
... identifying statutory requirements, identifying and controlling product safety-related characteristics both during product design and at the point of manufacture, defining responsibilities, escalation processes, reaction plans, and the necessary information flow, including top management, suppliers, and customers, receiving special approval for FMEAs and Control Plans, product traceability measures, and cascading requirements across the board.

What is required by the IATF 16949 standard?

A documented procedure for the management of product safety is required by the "Product safety" provision. The procedure for ensuring product safety must contain the following components:

• Statutory and regulatory requirements for product safety – Product safety laws and regulations must be identified by the organization. This can also refer to the techniques used to collect and analyze the data.
• Customer requirements regarding product safety – Usually, the customer makes this information quite obvious, but there are always some requirements that are suggested and are covered by the item earlier.
• Safety-related characteristics of the product – The organization must determine which qualities are important for product safety while taking into account the product's lifecycle and intended usage.
• Product safety-related controls at the point of manufacture – To guarantee that the product complies with safety requirements, the organization must set up the proper process controls.
• Special approval of process FMEA and control plans – Special approval is an additional approval given by the function (often the customer) in charge of approving IATF 16949 documents containing safety-related information.
• Reaction plans – Typically, these involve keeping the goods contained and, if necessary, completing a full inspection.
• Responsibilities, including the escalation strategy and information flow to the client and the top management.
• Proper IATF 16949 awareness training for the staff members involved in the production process and product safety (training needs may originate from the company itself or the client).
• A determination of the implications of the changes on product safety is made before the changes to the product or process are approved.

The IATF 16949 standard also mandates that safety targets be identified and reviewed as part of the product design inputs. The requirements for product identification and traceability have been expanded to include externally provided products with safety/regulatory characteristics, ensuring clear start and stop points for products that may contain quality- and/or safety-related nonconformities when they are received by the customer or in the field. According to the IATF, the requirement was reinforced to support business insights into practical problems.