The Standards Council of Canada (SCC) and Underwriters Laboratories Inc. (UL) have published a new National Adoption of Canada, which provides practical guidance to suppliers on assessing and managing the safety of consumer products, including effective documentation of risk assessment and management.
SCC worked in collaboration with UL to facilitate the adoption of ISO 10377, Consumer product safety – Guidelines for suppliers, which was published under the National Adoption of Canada process as CAN/UL 10377.
The standard is expected to support Health Canada’s efforts to encourage effective systems in Canada—particularly within small and medium sized enterprises—that identify, prevent, or respond to real or potential dangers to human health or safety associated with consumer products.
Through the adoption process, UL Standards piloted a virtual standards development approach that included outreach to potential participants through social media to identify Canadian national differences. The ballot, public review, and comment resolution stages of the adoption process were all completed virtually. The use of online platforms and virtual communication optimized openness and transparency throughout the consensus process in line with SCC standards development requirements for a National Adoption of Canada.
SCC CEO John Walter said they were pleased to work with UL to adopt this standard and offer Canadian suppliers practical guidance on assessing and managing the safety of consumer products.
“The novel approach taken by UL to use online platforms for public outreach was an exciting new strategy, and it aligns well with SCC’s commitment to encouraging progressive standardization solutions,” Walter said.
UL Standards Vice-President Phil Piqueira said “We are pleased to support Canadian standards development needs, particularly in the case of the adoption of ISO 10377 by enabling Canada to be one of the first nations to adopt this important international standard.
“Through this project, UL demonstrated its commitment to facilitating and advancing standards development in Canada and our drive towards innovative standards development solutions that meet the current needs of a more digital and social world.”