General Safety Testing: Standard Selection, Test Scope, and Report Boundaries
General safety testing is not a fixed list. Test items should be selected by product category, target market, user group, power supply, materials, and risk scenarios. Information technology equipment, audio/video products, appliances, lighting, toys, furniture, medical-related products, and industrial products may follow different standard pathways. Companies should rely on current standards and customer requirements.
Common Test Categories
| Category | Review focus | Common risk |
|---|---|---|
| Electrical safety | Insulation, dielectric strength, grounding, temperature rise, leakage current, clearance, and creepage | Inapplicable standards or sample constructions are used and do not cover the current product |
| Mechanical safety | Sharp edges, pinch points, stability, strength, drop, impact, and moving parts | Only appearance is checked while accessible risk in child-use or maintenance scenarios is missed |
| Materials and chemistry | Restricted substances, heavy metals, phthalates, volatiles, food-contact or skin-contact materials | Test records are not updated after material supplier changes |
| Environmental reliability | High/low temperature, damp heat, salt spray, UV, vibration, aging, and durability | Test conditions do not match transport, storage, or actual use scenarios |
| Labels and manuals | Warnings, ratings, use limits, maintenance instructions, and responsible-party information | Label version does not match report, packaging, or sales listing |
Test Planning Tips
- Confirm product category, target market, applicable rules, and customer requirements before selecting test items.
- Historical standards, historical reports, or reports for similar products can be references, but should not replace review of the current product.
- For multifunction products, electrical, radio, chemical, mechanical, and labeling pathways should be checked together.
- When customer-facing pages cite reports, test items and scope should be stated clearly.
Green Ark's Recommendation
Green Ark (Shenzhen) Certification Co., Ltd. recommends building a safety test plan that links product classification, target market, standard version, test items, and report scope. This helps reduce missed items, wrong standard selection, and reports that cannot support customer documents.
