SAFETY Activity Report 2018-2019

Chairman: Brian Copsey, ASP

Responsible for co-ordinating safety and EMF requirements between ETSI and the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardisation (CENELEC), and for co-ordinating ETSI’s position on telecommunications equipment safety.

ETSI’s Safety committee (TC SAFETY) monitors developments in electromagnetic fields (EMF), electrical safety and safety in cable television systems, as these impact the interests of ETSI members.

The role of SAFETY is quite distinct from other ETSI Technical Committees. While it does not normally write standards, the primary role of the committee is as an information exchange, collecting information from other bodies including CENELEC, IEC and the EU for distribution to ETSI members.

The committee also works closely with other European and international standards organizations in order to establish, wherever possible, globally-applicable standards for telecommunications equipment safety and to avoid the duplication of effort. 

TC SAFETY’s continuing focus in 2018 was in relation to implementation of the Radio Equipment Directive (RED). Here TC SAFETY works with CENELEC – which is responsible for the development of Harmonised Standards for EMF in Europe – to review current standards in the light of the changes brought about by the RED.