Innovation moves faster than standard committees.
Welcome to The Safety Desk, Product Safety Consulting’s FAQ series dedicated to answering the most common and critical questions in product safety and regulatory compliance.
Innovation moves faster than standard committees. When you’re developing a product that doesn’t fit neatly into established categories, certification can feel like trying to navigate a maze that wasn’t designed for what you’re building. Maybe you’re creating a medical device with IoT connectivity. Or industrial equipment with consumer electronics interfaces. Or wearable technology that crosses into medical device territory. Whatever you’re developing, the challenge is the same: how do you certify a product when there’s no clear template to follow?
This is where multi-category expertise becomes essential. Single-category consultants understand one standard deeply but struggle when products blur boundaries. Certification bodies themselves often don’t know how to handle truly innovative products because they’re accustomed to established categories with clear testing protocols. You need partners who’ve worked across diverse product types, understand how different standards interact, and can draw from multiple disciplines to develop appropriate compliance approaches for products that don’t fit traditional classifications.
The key to certifying innovative products is understanding that safety requirements are ultimately about identifying hazards and demonstrating adequate safeguards, regardless of whether your product has an established category. The question isn’t “which standard exactly applies to this new thing?” It’s “what could go wrong with this product, and how do we prove we’ve addressed those hazards appropriately?” This requires looking at analogous products, identifying relevant sections from multiple standards, and sometimes working with certification bodies to develop test plans for genuinely new technologies.
Starting compliance conversations early—ideally at the concept stage—matters even more for innovative products than for established categories. When you’re following a well-worn path, you can sometimes get away with treating certification as a final validation step. When you’re breaking new ground, design decisions you make without understanding safety implications can create problems that are difficult or impossible to fix later. Our Design for Safety Approvals – DFSAtm approach integrates compliance thinking into development from day one, helping you make choices that support certification rather than fighting against it when you reach the testing phase.
This FAQ addresses the questions innovators face when their products don’t fit standard categories, from determining which standards apply to working with certification bodies on new testing approaches and avoiding the delays that come from discovering compliance issues too late in development.
1. What if my product doesn’t fit into a standard category?
That’s exactly where our multi-category expertise comes in. We’ve worked across hundreds of product categories, from appliances to medical devices to wearables to industrial controls, machinery and more. When your product is truly innovative and crosses traditional boundaries, we draw from multiple standards and testing protocols to develop an appropriate compliance approach. If a product is new to the market, we help identify which existing standards may apply, pull the appropriate requirements out and adapt necessary testing methodologies.
2. How do you determine which safety standards apply to an innovative product?
We start by understanding what your product does, where it will be used, and what potential hazards exist. Then we identify applicable standards based on the product’s function, environment, and components. For products that don’t fit neatly into one category, we look at analogous products and relevant sections from multiple standards. Our experience across diverse categories means we can quickly navigate this complexity and provide clear guidance.
3. What does “Jack of All, Master of Many” actually mean for my project?
It means we have broad knowledge across many product types while maintaining deep expertise in each category we work with. You’re not getting generalists who skim the surface. You’re getting engineers who understand the nuances of different standards and can apply that knowledge to your specific product. This matters because innovative products often require insights from multiple disciplines to achieve compliance efficiently.
4. Can you help with products that combine technologies from different industries?
Absolutely. Many innovative products blend technologies, like a medical device with IoT connectivity or industrial equipment with consumer electronics interfaces. We understand the standards that govern each component and how they interact. We can evaluate mechanical safety, electrical safety, EMC, wireless connectivity, and software security within a single product, ensuring nothing gets overlooked.
5. What is Design for Safety Approvals – DFSAtm and why does it matter for innovative products?
DFSAtm is our approach to integrating safety requirements into your design from day one. For innovative products especially, this is critical because there’s no established template to follow. By getting involved early, we help you make design decisions that support compliance rather than fighting against it later. This prevents expensive redesigns and keeps your project on track when you’re breaking new ground.
6. How do you handle testing when there’s no established standard for my product?
We look at the hazards your product presents and identify relevant test methods from related standards. We may combine testing protocols from different categories or work with certification bodies to develop appropriate test plans. The goal is to demonstrate that your product is safe, even if the path to proving that isn’t standard. Our relationship with various NRTLs and Certification Bodies helps facilitate this process.
7. Will working with a multi-category consultant slow down my certification process?
The opposite, actually. Because we understand diverse standards and testing methods, we can often find faster paths to compliance. We’re not learning about your product category as we go. We recognize patterns, anticipate issues, and know which approaches work. For innovative products that might stump a single-category consultant, our breadth of experience accelerates the process.
8. What types of innovative products have you successfully certified?
We’ve worked on everything from breakthrough medical devices to new energy technologies, novel consumer electronics, advanced industrial equipment, smart home products, IT and wearables, and products that didn’t have a category when they were invented. We’ve been at it for over 35 years and if you’re creating something new, chances are we’ve certified something with similar challenges or applicable technology.
9. How do you stay current with evolving standards for emerging technologies?
Many of our engineers are actively involved in our industry. Our President & CEO, John Allen, has been on the Board of Governors for the IEEE’s Product Safety Engineering Society (PSES) many years and is ending his second term as President this year. PSES is the only place to learn and network with other Product Safety and Compliance engineers from around the world. Their conferences and symposiums bring together many different subjects as Tracks – John Allen created Compliance 101 for those new to compliance. Other Tracks include medical devices, equipment in hazardous locations, Global Market Access (GMA), legal, Information Technology, Functional Safety, and more.
For truly innovative products, being a part of the PSES community is invaluable.
10. What happens if certification bodies don’t know how to handle my innovative product?
This is where our relationships and experience matter most. We’ve worked through these situations many times. We can present a technical rationale for how to evaluate your product, suggest appropriate test methods, and work with the certification body to develop an acceptable approach. Our deep expertise and track record give certification bodies confidence in our recommendations, which smooths the path for your innovative product.
Disclaimer: This content was developed with contributions from multiple sources and reflects general industry knowledge about safety certification requirements. Product Safety Consulting, Inc provides this information for educational purposes only. Specific certification requirements vary by product, application, and jurisdiction. Always consult with qualified certification professionals and testing laboratories for guidance on your particular situation.