The International Organization for Standards (ISO) is an independent organization that develops voluntary international standards. The purpose of ISO 10377 is to provide suppliers with practical guidance concerning the safety of the consumer products they manufacture. According to ISO, “ISO 10377:2013 provides practical guidance to suppliers on assessing and managing the safety of consumer products, including effective documentation of risk assessment and risk management to meet applicable requirements.â€
As stated in the ISO 10377 documents, the standard provides the necessary direction to:
• Reduce the product safety risk to consumers
• Reduce the risks to suppliers
• Provide consumers with the information they need in order to make informed choices with respect to the safe use and disposal of consumer products
• Assist governments by improving the safety of consumer products.
The information provided in the ISO 10377 standard is designed for suppliers of all sizes. Ultimately the standard will assist “in assessing and managing the safety of the consumer products they supply–from the design of the product, to the input of raw materials, to production, to distribution, to retail, and to the final product end-user and disposal.â€
Small and medium-sized businesses will benefit greatly from these guidelines. Additionally, since distributors are still responsible for product safety, there are examples in the standard that will benefit them as well.
These basic principles are at the core of ISO 10377: for improving the Organization Performance
·
Promoting
a product safety culture within the organization
How a company communicates and demonstrates to staff that safety is important. Ways to accomplish this include incorporating company compliance values into mission statements and policies.
·
Promoting
a product safety culture outside the organization
How a company communicates its values and compliance expectations to vendors and other
business partners throughout the supply chain. This can be accomplished through contracts, vendor policies, codes of conduct, and audits.
Commitment to providing safe products
• A company demonstrates its commitment to compliance through investments in capital and human resources. True commitment involves investment, and this type of commitment must come from the top management in real terms of why this is important to the organization. Leadership is responsible for driving this commitment down through the organization to all levels, through training, resource allocation, and ensuring processes are in place for proper records management and document control.
Continual improvement
• Safety is ongoing and ever improving with continuous monitoring of processes and outcomes. Companies must continually monitor themselves and look for improvement opportunities. Tracking issues and defects allows for in-depth analysis of risks and offers data needed to build in or re-engineer safety into products.
User questions & answers