Safety By Design: Digital Products

Safety By Design - Digital Products

Safety by Design for Digital Consumer Products

The traditional ways of launching a physical product to consumers has been continually built up over time to include well over 4,500 related British Standards, with their fundamental aim to protect consumers.

Most consumers now know that when purchasing products, they can be conﬁdent that it has gone through a rigorous set of standards and procedures, that make it eligible for them to purchase safely. The safe design of consumer products is the “front line” in consumer protection.

But what happens now in the digital world?

Traditional standards were not built for the world of digital products. Many new digital products are invented every day and will turn on all your lights, mow the lawn, be a child’s toy, do the washing and control your home heating.

This raises a number of key concerns for consumers purchasing these new digital products and services, where an organisation had not taken into account how their digital interface can in fact cause real accidents and potentially loss of life.

The NCF Plan and Approach

It is key that NCF and it’s stakeholders, partners and influencers need to help consumers understand what’s happening in the new worlds of standards in the digital space. Everyone of us has already come into contact with a digital products, whether it’s an application downloaded to our phone or tablet, or opening our phone with a smile and facial recognition software, these should all be government by the right standards that protect consumers.

But, with the mainstream advancements in 3D printing machines, anyone, anywhere can create their own digital product and print it at home. The question here – is who’s responsible for ensuring if that product is sold or made available for consumer use, who’s liable in the event of an irreversible product failure.

The following details our approach with our partners, Electrical Safety First (ESF) developed functional safety principles developed to form a basis for safe digitally controlled consumer products through UK law and British Standards to support our Theme.

Plan

NCF and ESF have developed an initial functional safety principle document to share with key industry stakeholders.

Discuss

An initial webinar has been performed with over 25 organisation representing a range of industry and consumer organisations, where the initial functional safety principles were discussed, debated and future objectives and actions agreed.

Persuade

The final outcomes were documented in the form of a discussion document and has been developed to lobby Government on introducing new standards that help protect consumers when using Digital Products

Our Partners and Sponsors for this Theme

Electrical Safety First - Key Partner

For more information on EFS click here

Click Here

British Standards Institution - Key Sponsor

For more information on BSI click here

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Further information and relevant links

Website Links

TrustMark

TrustMark is the Government Endorsed Quality Scheme covering work a consumer chooses to have carried out in or around their home.

Click Here to visit their website: www.trustmark.org.uk

BEIS

BEIS (Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy) is responsible for a number of UK Government policy areas such as business and industrial strategy, science, innovation, energy and climate change.

To visit their website, click here.

Energy Saving Trust

Energy Saving Trust is an independent organisation – working to address the climate emergency.

To visit their website, click here.

Consumer Rights - Government Website

The law protects your consumer rights when you buy goods or services. Find out who to contact for consumer protection advice.

You can get help if you’re treated unfairly or when things go wrong.

To visit their website, click here.

Trading Standards - Friends Against Scams

Friends Against Scams is a National Trading Standards Scams Team initiative which aims to protect and prevent people from becoming victims of scams by empowering people to take a stand against scams.

To visit their website, click here.

WWF - Carbon Footprint Calculator

The planet is in crisis – from climate change to the pollution in our oceans and devastation of our forests. It’s up to all of us to fix it. Take your first step with our environmental footprint calculator.

To take the WWF questionnaire, click here.

NCF Publications

NCF Congress Report 2020 - Zero Carbon Home

Click Here to download the report

NCF Interim Report from Digital Workshop 18 June 2019

Click here to download the report

NCF Consumer Congress Report May 2018

Click here to download the report

NCF Congress 2017 report

Click here to download the report

NCF Enforcement Congress Report 5.12.17

Click here to download the report

Letter to International Trade Minister on UK-US Trade Talks

Click here to download the letter

NCF Briefing paper – UK USA Trade Talks Standards issues