Understanding the Safety Evaluation Approach that Best Supports Your Industrial Control Panel Business

PBSI CSA logo 400

February 6, 2019

If you produce industrial control panels (ICPs) for installation in the U.S. and/or Canada, you know how critical it is to confirm their safety and reliability. Workers, businesses, and communities depend on it.

Your customers also want to be assured that your panels will be approved by inspectors upon installation. Red tags, costly repairs, and delays are unacceptable.

But just as critical to your success as a manufacturer is a safety evaluation process that supports the way you do business – whether you are mass producing a single panel model, producing individual control panels or short runs of panels for intermittent delivery, or have another production and delivery approach.

Choosing the best evaluation process for your business starts with understanding all the options.

A Guide to Your ICP Evaluation Options

Recognizing the unique challenges and business models in the industry, the ICP evaluation team at CSA Group created a comprehensive guide to help you choose the best model to support your business.

Also covered are key North American safety requirements and the unique role U.S. and Canadian Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJs) play in approving installed panels for start-up. Whether you produce panels for North America today, or are just entering the market, the information and insight in this paper can help you optimize the way you confirm safety compliance.

Identifying the Best Option

Leading ICP safety evaluation organizations like CSA Group have developed a range of options to serve widely varied ICP manufacturing business models. These include on-site safety evaluations for individual products, evaluations at your production facility or in an independent testing laboratory, evaluations for limited production runs or for intermittent production of panels as they are ordered, evaluation for mass production of ICPs of a fixed design, and more.

Bottom line, you have a wide range of options to choose from, one of which can offer the flexibility and cost-efficiency your business requires.

ICP Safety Requirements for North America are Unique

Of course, getting compliance right is not optional. There is no substitute for in-depth and up-to-date knowledge of, and experience with, all the North American safety requirements your products must meet. And those requirements are uniquely complex.

Your evaluation program will have to confirm ICPs conform with the requirements of specific U.S. and/or Canadian safety standards depending on where the panels will be installed. The type of installation also makes a difference. ICPs for hazardous locations must meet the same safety requirements as panels for ordinary locations, plus additional requirements to manage the potential for ignition caused by an electrical spark in an explosive atmosphere. The components you use in the construction of your ICPs must also be tested and certified for compliance with applicable component safety standards.

Finally, depending on where they will be installed, your panels will have to meet the specific installation safety requirements contained in the U.S. and/or Canadian national electrical codes. Safety approval in North America isn’t final until compliance is confirmed by Authorities Having Jurisdiction at the point of installation.

On-time start-up of your customer’s equipment or system is important, so understanding the applicable requirements and the evaluation options is necessary to help you succeed in the final on-site inspection.

Finding the Right Third-party Provider

Understanding and properly applying the North American requirements can be challenging. It’s essential to work with a third-party that has reliable expertise in this field and the appropriate accreditations to conduct the required testing and certification activities. This helps protect safety and security, increase your flexibility, efficiency and predictability, and reduce wasteful expense across your product’s lifecycle. CSA Group is an accredited provider of ICP evaluations, and its services can be tailored to meet your specific business needs.

Download White Paper HERE

Related Articles


Changing Scene


Sponsored Content
The Easy Way to the Industrial IoT

The way to the Industrial IoT does not have to be complicated. Whether access to valuable data is required or new, data-driven services are to be generated, Weidmuller enables its customers to go from data to value the easy way. Weidmuller’s comprehensive and cutting-edge IIoT portfolio applies to greenfield and brownfield applications. Weidmuller offers components and solutions from data acquisition, data pre-processing, data communication and data analysis.

Visit Weidmuller’s Industrial IoT Portfolio.


ADVANCED Motion Controls Takes Servo Drives to New Heights (and Depths) with FlexPro Extended Environment Product Line

Advanced Motion Controls is proud to announce the addition of six new CANopen servo drives with Extended Environment capabilities to their FlexPro line. These new drives join AMC’s existing EtherCAT Extended Environment FlexPro drives, making the FlexPro line the go-to solution for motion control applications in harsh environments.

Many motion control applications take place in conditions that are less than ideal, such as extreme temperatures, high and low pressures, shocks and vibrations, and contamination. Electronics, including servo drives, can malfunction or sustain permanent damage in these conditions.

Read More


Service Wire Co. Announces New Titles for Key Executives

Bruce Kesler and Mark Gatewood have been given new titles and responsibilities for Service Wire Co.

Bruce Kesler has assumed the role of Senior Director – Business Development. Bruce will be responsible for Service Wire’s largest strategic accounts and our growing Strategic Accounts Team.

Mark Gatewood has been promoted to the role of Vice President – Sales & Marketing. In this role, Gatewood will lead the efforts of Service Wire Company’s entire sales and marketing organization in all market verticals.

Read More


Tri-Mach Announces the Purchase of an Additional 45,000 sq ft. Facility

Tri-Mach Elmira Facility

Recently, Tri-Mach Inc. was thrilled to announce the addition of a new 45,000 sq ft. facility. Located at 285 Union St., Elmira, ON, this facility expands Tri-Mach’s capabilities, allowing them to better serve the growing needs of their customers.

Positioning for growth, this additional facility will allow Tri-Mach to continue taking on large-scale projects, enhance product performance testing, and provide equipment storage for their customers. The building will also be the new home to their Skilled Trades Centre of Excellence.

Read More


JMP Parent Company, CONVERGIX Acquires AGR Automation, Expanding Global Reach

Convergix Automation Solutions has completed the acquisition of AGR Automation (“AGR”), a UK-based provider of custom, high-performance automation design and systems integration primarily to the life sciences industry.

Following Convergix’s acquisitions of JMP Solutions in August 2021 and Classic Design in February 2022, AGR marks the third investment in Crestview’s strategy to build Convergix into a diversified automation solutions provider targeting the global $500+ billion market, with a particular focus on the $70 billion global systems integration and connectivity segments. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Read More


Latest Articles

  • Implementing Functional Safety Requirements

    Implementing Functional Safety Requirements

    The Safety Functional Requirements Specification (SFRS; sometimes referred to as SRS or Safety Requirements Specification) is the plan for the safety controls on a machine and is the second step of the safety lifecycle. The SFRS document serves as a framework for the safety control system design, is informed by prior work done in the… Read More…

  • From Endress+Hauser, 24/7 Digital, Plant-Wide Health Monitoring for Rockwell Systems Optimizes Workflows and Processes

    From Endress+Hauser, 24/7 Digital, Plant-Wide Health Monitoring for Rockwell Systems Optimizes Workflows and Processes

    Endress+Hauser’s Asset Health Monitoring Solution–Rockwell Edition, now available for installation, provides operators with a centralized, digital overview of plant-wide device health to avoid unscheduled shutdowns and accelerate troubleshooting. It not only presents early visibility of problematic devices but distinguishes itself by adding likely causes and remedies to such a report so problems can be fixed… Read More…