Promotion of Standardization

～ Measures to prevent accidents and recurrence of accidents in consumer products ～

NITE provides technical support for the proper operation of regulations related to the safety of consumer products, to achieve a safe and secure society. NITE also supports revisions of standards from the standpoint of preventing accidents and recurrence of accidents in consumer products. NITE is engaged in the following operations:

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National Institute of Technology and Evaluation
Product Safety Technology Center
Product Safety Support Division
2-49-10, Nishihara, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan 151-0066
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Standardization for the Elderly and Infants

Based on the results of analysis and investigation of accident involving elderly persons and infants, NITE supports the development and presentation of standards and regulations aimed at preventing the recurrence of accidents and injuries caused by the use of consumer products. 
NITE extracts information on accidents involving elderly persons and infants from information collected by NITE and other government agencies, evaluates risk level, and identifies products which present inherent high risk through the process of analyzing and evaluating information on accidents involving elderly persons and infants. NITE has developed and published standards for testing and evaluation methods that are indispensable in safety design and manufacturing, with consideration of users' physical and behavioral characteristics.

<　Safety standard system for infants　>
In order to promote standardization regarding considerations for elderly persons and infants, NITE organizes and systematizes standards by type, in accordance with the following safety standard system. This Infant Safety Standard System is a system diagram of safety standards for products aimed at infants, and consists of three layers: A Standards, B Standards, and C Standards. A Standards, also called basic standards, describe guidelines for ensuring consumer safety in products in general. B Standards, also known as group or common standards, describe testing methods and safety standards that can be commonly used in certain product groups. C Standards, also called product standards, are standards created for individual products. The following patterns can be realized by developing standards that comply with this standards structure:

• If there is a C Standard (individual product standard) corresponding to a product, minimum safety confirmation can be performed by giving priority to the C Standard.
• For products for which there is no corresponding C Standard (individual product standard), minimum risk reduction can be considered by following the A Standards (basic standards). Further use of B Standards (group standards/common standards) enables determination of whether a product has any potential hazards.
• When making a new C Standard, an outline of the C Standard can be created by referring to A Standards and B Standards.

Fig.　Child Safety Standards System

<　Common Standard for Assistive Products　＞
In response to the aging of society, assistive products are playing more significant roles day by day. As the distribution of assistive products grows, the number of accidents caused by them has been increasing. Accordingly, NITE has developed Common Testing Methods for Assistive Products.

NOTICE　Common Testing Methods for Assistive Products is currently discontinued.

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International Standardization

As a component of its standardization activities, NITE participates in various standardization committees related to elderly persons and infants.

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Providing Data for Product Safety

NITE provides data for promoting safe and accessible products and for developing product safety regulations.  
 

NOTICE
＜The human characteristics database ＞
NITE built and published the human characteristics database for product design.  The database is now available at “HQL Database Human Life Engineering” of Research Institute of Human Engineering of Quality Life (HQL).
https://www.hql.jp/database/cat/etc/nite_h13-14_funcdb （Japanese）
https://www.hql.jp/database/cat/etc/nite_h20_funcdb （Japanese）

＜The polymer fracture database ＞
NITE Built the polymer fracture database and published it for product design. It is available at "MATERIALS DATA REPOSITORY (MDR)" site of the National Institute for Materials Science.

https://mdr.nims.go.jp/collections/m326m272m?locale=en （Japanese）