Practical Implications of Electrical Product Safety Regulation in Ontario International Consumer Product Health and Safety Organization Sixth International Meeting and Training Symposium “International Cooperation on Product Safety” October 26,27,28 Normand Breton, General Manager Product Safety

1 Topics Covered Product Safety in Ontario— Regulation 438/07 Mandatory reporting requirements Corrective action—including requirements for public notification Lessons learned Questions

Regulatory Requirements Ontario Regulation 438/07 Final Industry Guidelines for the Management of Electrical Product Safety (July 14, 2008) 2

Mandatory Reporting Reporting of Serious Product Incidents Mandatory reporting requirements came into effect on July 1,

Mandatory Reporting Steps to Assess Reporting Obligation Is the product regulated by the ESA? Does the incident pass the reporting thresholds? Is the hazard “moderate” or “major”? Is the user behavior “unreasonable”? 4

Mandatory Reporting REPORTING THRESHOLD : “Incidents, accidents and defects” must be reported if “the severity of actual impact passes the defined threshold for [or has the potential to cause] death or serious injury or substantial property damage.” “Serious injury” defined as “permanent impairment of a body structure, chronic health effect or any injury requiring hospitalization or professional medical treatment.” 5

Mandatory Reporting “Substantial property damage” defined as “loss attributed to flame emitted from a product” or “an impact on building and contents ranging from partial to total loss.” Guidelines at 6.2. Risk should be based on “reasonable user behavior” except if there is a “known trend of unreasonable user behavior.” Guidelines at

7 Impact on Supply Chain The Supply Chain: manufacturers, importers, brand owners, distributors, wholesalers, retailers. Required to submit a report to ESA about an incident, accident or defect which meets the minimum reporting threshold within a specified time frame as defined by the guidelines

Impact on Certification Bodies and FE Agencies CBs and FE agencies must report to ESA when they become aware of a serious electrical incident, accident, or defect of an electrical product or device they certified or evaluated that affects or is likely to affect the safety of any person or cause damage to property 8

Distribution of Reports July 1, July 6,

Distribution of Reportable Incidents July 1, July 6,

Distribution of Mandatory Reports July 1, 2008 – July 6,

Distribution of Voluntary Reports July 1, 2008 – July 6,

Distribution of Reports by Product Type July 1, 2008 – August 25,

Assisting in the Investigation Certification Bodies and FE Agencies: Required to assist in an investigation when requested by ESA. May provide input on the development of a corrective action plan when requested. Manufacturers, importers, brand owners, distributors, wholesalers, retailers: May be requested by ESA to assist in an investigation regarding an alleged incident, accident or defect 14

Corrective Action and Public Notification The Supply Chain: manufacturers, importers, brand owners, distributors, wholesalers, retailers. May be required by ESA to undertake public notification or corrective action based on a risk assessment 15

Corrective Action and Public Notification ESA posts recalls, safety alerts and flash notices on the ESA website ( Collaboration between ESA and Consumer Product Safety Directorate of the Department of Health of Canada 16

Examples of Corrective Actions Web based Only recalls marked as “Post the Recall” are available to the public via the ESA web-page 17

Lessons Learned Corrective Action : 1.Manufacturers need to consider providing sufficient advance notice to ESA Product Safety staff 2.Must ensure that a Canadian contact and number that works in Canada are in place 18

Lessons Learned 3. Manufacturers and supply chain need to consider how they are able to identify and track product distribution within Canada independent of other North American distribution. 19

Questions??