Field Labelling
Your passport to the USA machinery market
If you are supplying machinery and equipment into the USA market, you will need to comply with local electrical safety requirements. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires that “all electrical conductors and equipment shall be approved”. To gain this approval, the equipment must be certified, listed, labelled or determined by a National Recognised Testing Laboratory (NRTL). State OSHA organizations, county, and municipal authorities follow the OSHA requirement by requiring electrical products to be approved before the product may be used in workplaces within the jurisdiction. These authorities, who enforce safety requirements for specific locations, are referred to as AHJs (Authorities Having Jurisdiction).
Field evaluation may be performed for new machines being placed on the market. It is part of the process of both Field Labelling and Field Listing:
- Field labelling is carried out on bespoke or small quantities of machines
- Field listing is for larger quantities and series manufactured machinery
The Field Evaluation Process:
- Preliminary Inspection - The preliminary inspection is intended to assess the overall construction and safety of the machine to the relevant technical standards. During the preliminary inspection, it is not necessary to assess aspects of compliance that are unique to the final installation site, so the preliminary inspection may be performed at the manufacturers’ location as well as at the final installation site.
- The Field Evaluation Final Inspection - The final inspection is performed only at the installation site for the machine and focuses on the installation-specific requirements of machine compliance with the regulations and standards.
- The NRTL Field Label - Once the product has been examined during the final inspection and found to comply with all applicable requirements, an NRTL field label is applied to the equipment. This field label denotes to the AHJ that the equipment has been inspected by the NRTL and that all requirements of the technical standard have been complied with.
NRTLs are independent, third party organisations, recognised by OSHA under Federal code 29 CFR 1910.7 to provide safety testing and certification services for products used in the American workplace. TÜV SÜD is an OSHA accredited NRTL and can provide Field Labelling services for the electrical safety of machinery.
Field evaluation may be performed for new machines being placed on the market. It is part of the process of both Field Labelling and Field Listing:
- Field labelling is carried out on bespoke or small quantities of machines
- Field listing is for larger quantities and series manufactured machinery
The Field Evaluation Process:
- Preliminary Inspection - The preliminary inspection is intended to assess the overall construction and safety of the machine to the relevant technical standards. During the preliminary inspection, it is not necessary to assess aspects of compliance that are unique to the final installation site, so the preliminary inspection may be performed at the manufacturers’ location as well as at the final installation site.
- The Field Evaluation Final Inspection - The final inspection is performed only at the installation site for the machine and focuses on the installation-specific requirements of machine compliance with the regulations and standards.
- The NRTL Field Label - Once the product has been examined during the final inspection and found to comply with all applicable requirements, an NRTL field label is applied to the equipment. This field label denotes to the AHJ that the equipment has been inspected by the NRTL and that all requirements of the technical standard have been complied with.
NRTLs are independent, third party organisations, recognised by OSHA under Federal code 29 CFR 1910.7 to provide safety testing and certification services for products used in the American workplace. TÜV SÜD is an OSHA accredited NRTL and can provide Field Labelling services for the electrical safety of machinery.
