Product Safety – Staff and Bringing Home Stuff to School

Good morning and Happy Friday!  Now that we are starting to settle in for the school year this question comes up very frequently.  Obviously, the best course of action would be to remind teachers and staff not to bring in electrical equipment, furniture, drapery, and other goods that may not meet flammability or national testing standards.  However, there are a few resources that can help you verify that products do meet safety standards.  Here are a few different sites:

Product iQ | UL Solutions aids searching the product to see if it is UL Listed and Labeled.  It will indicate whether UL tested the product or any of OSHA’s accepted testing labs.

OSHA’s Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL) Program | Occupational Safety and Health Administration contains all approved third-party testing labs, e.g. ETL is the big one you will see on electrical equipment.

Fire Code for Walls and Corridors

807.5.5.2 Artwork in corridors. Artwork and teaching
materials shall be limited on walls of corridors to not
more than 20 percent of the wall area.

807.5.5.3 Artwork in classrooms. Artwork and teaching materials shall be limited on walls of classrooms to
not more than 50 percent of the specific wall area to
which they are attached.

OSHA Workstation eTool

eTools : Computer Workstations | Occupational Safety and Health Administration this helps assess staff’s workstations to minimize ergonomic issues.  Most desks are designed with ergonomics in mind but when staff bring in their own chairs/desks, they can be putting themselves at risk.

Furniture

What is California Cal 117-2013 and how does it affect furniture – Richardson Seating

If you have any questions regarding product safety, please do not hesitate to reach out to CA BOCES Health and Safety so we can do the research for you and be the bad guys.  The PDF is a case review that we did for a district regarding area rugs/carpets and has a resource we use for those goods.