Ensuring Customer Safety
Ensuring Product Safety
Establishing a Voluntary Action Plan based on the Basic Policy on Product Safety
Canon views providing safe products that deliver peace of mind and satisfaction to be our mission as a manufacturer to contribute to creating a richer society.
Based upon that belief, in July 2007, Canon formulated a Basic Policy on Product Safety as a part of our fundamental policy on establishing an internal control system.
Based on this policy, Group companies in Japan maintaining internal control systems* developed a Voluntary Action Plan for Product Safety to be implemented from 2008 onward to accommodate their fields of business. Under the plan, the companies endeavor to be customer-oriented and focus on product safety.
Since the revision of the Consumer Product Safety Act in 2007, which made mandatory the notification of serious product accidents to Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (currently these are made to the Consumer Affairs Agency), there have been no serious accidents involving Canon products requiring such notification.
- *Group companies with an established Voluntary Action Plan for Product Safety:
Canon Inc.; Canon Marketing Japan Inc.; Canon System & Support Inc.; Canon Electronics Inc.; Canon Finetech Inc.; Canon Machinery Inc.; Canon ANELVA Corporation; Oita Canon Inc.; Canon Chemicals Inc.; Nagahama Canon Inc.; Fukushima Canon Inc.; Canon Precision Inc.; and Oita Canon Materials Inc.
Canon Inc. Activity Topics for 2011
- Management review by the president based on the Voluntary Action Plan for Product Safety (continued from 2008)
- Improvements to Canon's product verification process, which covers the product development and production stages
- Revision of Basic Quality Standards and Grounding Continuity Evaluation Standard
- Enhanced product safety education
- Continuation of e-learning for all employees to promote understanding of the Voluntary Action Plan for Product Safety
Product Safety based on Product Safety Technical Standards
Canon regards the prevention of product safety issues and quality issues as the most fundamental and important mission for a manufacturer.
Therefore, we have established our own Product Safety Technical Standards that not only meet legally stipulated product safety standards, but also take into account customer perspectives on product use. For example, we employ plastics that are more flame resistant than the law requires and implement double-protection schemes for important safety-related components.
Based on these technical standards, we strictly enforce safety management at the design, evaluation and manufacturing stages. Items not meeting these exacting standards are withheld from the market to ensure that all products meet our requirements for substantial safety.*
In addition, during 2009 we took various steps toward enhancing our quality testing, including commencement of operations at the Tamagawa General Measurement Testing Laboratory, an industry-leading facility in Japan equipped with measurement testing equipment.
- *Substantial safety
An approach to ensuring product safety by taking into account anticipated customer usage, going beyond what is prescribed in legal and regulatory frameworks.
Tamagawa General Measurement Testing Laboratory
Canon's main approaches to safety technology
- Hypothesize abnormalities, such as component failure, and conduct stricter safety evaluation testing than is required by the laws of each country and region
- Attempt to assess injury, which hypothetically might occur in a variety of operations performed by customers, taking into perspective usability, human error, etc.
- Engage in joint development with manufacturers of essential safety-related components, such as non-combustible parts and non-fail protective components, and employ those meeting the requirements of Canon's Component Certification System
Responding to Product Safety and Quality Issues
Although Canon strives to prevent product safety and quality issues, in the event that a safety or quality problem does arise, we have in place a framework that ensures a prompt and appropriate response, including causal investigation, free repairs and information disclosure.
We keep our customers informed about product safety or quality issues and remedial procedures by placing product advisory statements in various newspapers and on our website.
Four defects involving digital document management software, digital cameras, and others arose in 2011. We gave notice of the causes and solutions (repair software downloads, free repairs, etc.).
Five quality-related notices were also posted on the website. We offered information about preventative measures, remedial firmware, and similar no-charge remedies.
Flowchart of Countermeasures to Quality Issues
When quality issues arise, the marketing subsidiaries in each country, which serve as the contact point for the customer, file a report with the quality assurance division of the respective Canon Inc. product operations.
The quality assurance division then analyzes the cause of the issue and looks into countermeasures. In addition, in the event of a major issue it discusses the matter with the related divisions of the product operations, as well as with the Environment & Quality Headquarters, legal division and public relations division concerning the response. When necessary a report is made to the president.
When notification is made to customers via a company notice or the Website, we provide instructions to each sales company in the regions where the product is sold, and as a rule the information is released worldwide at the same time.
Flowchart of Countermeasures to Product Safety and Quality Issues
Product Safety Education
We continually conduct quality and safety training based on our quality education system, encouraging employees to make thorough efforts to ensure product safety and prevent product accidents.
In 2011, we held a total of six courses concerning electrical safety, chemical safety rules, and PL. We also held six sessions of substantial safety education for new and younger employees who work with electrical and mechanical systems. We also continued e-learning from the previous year to promote thorough understanding of the Voluntary Action Plan for Product Safety.
In addition to the above employee training, we also continuously provide safety information to our sales, repair and service partner companies, such as items of safety concern involving repairs or parts exchange.
Creating Sites to Provide Safe and Secure Products
Canon Inc. has installed testing equipment that meets public standards and related regulatory statutes at our development sites. Such equipment is used to make high-precision measurements that allow us to deliver products that customers can use safely and with confidence.
Within these development sites, we have set up equipment to measure and test electromagnetic radiation, noise, flame resistance ratings, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), genetic toxicity and electrical safety. Most development sites also have testing laboratories certified in public standared such as ISO/IEC, UL*1, enabling publicly certified testing of electromagnetic radiation, VOCs, genetic toxicity and electrical safety on an in-house basis.
The Tamagawa General Measurement Testing Laboratory was newly constructed in 2009 in Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture. This testing facility is equipped with the industry's leading testing technology, including anechoic chambers, sealed rooms, and semi-anechoic chambers, and has acquired accreditation based on ISO/IEC17025, making it possible to conduct publicly certified testing, such as EMC testing,*2 noise measurements necessary to applying for Blue Angel*3 certification, and flame resistance testing for plastics at our own facility.
The Tamagawa General Measurement Testing Laboratory is located near our development sites, making the latest testing facilities easily accessible to those sites in their product development efforts and providing an efficient development environment.
- *1UL: Underwriters Laboratories Inc.; established in the USA in 1894 for the independent testing and certification of product safety.
- *2EMC Electromagnetic Compatibility Testing
This consists of electromagnetic interference wave testing for measuring radio interference from electromagnetic waves emitted or transmitted by the product itself or power sources that affects the operations of other equipment, as well as electromagnetic susceptibility testing, which tests the susceptibility of the product itself to malfunctioning caused by electromagnetic waves emitted by electrical equipment in the vicinity. - *3Blue Angel
Blue Angel was launched in 1978 as the world's first eco-labeling system and is monitored by Germany's Federal Environmental Agency, the German Institute for Quality Assurance and Certification and the Environmental Label Jury, an independent decision-making body.
Measurement of product electromagnetic emissions in an anechoic chamber
Canon's Measurement Sites
Safety Assessment Initiatives
Safety Assessments of Chemical Substances Released from Products
Consumers have recently become more aware of product safety as a result of increasing reports in the mass media on the release of chemical substances from home appliances. At Canon, we assess chemical emissions* of multifunction devices (MFDs) and other printers, as well as projectors and other products, so that customers can use our products with complete confidence.
Our assessments measure emissions of benzene, styrene, ozone and dust, for which standard values are set for obtaining Germany's Blue Angel environmental label, and we also assess chemical substances for which human exposure limits have been established around the world. We verify that emission levels meet our independent standards, which are the same as or more stringent than exposure standards set worldwide.
The testing laboratory carrying out these assessments has been certified as a fair and impartial test facility for applications for the Blue Angel mark and has received ISO/IEC 17025 certification from the Japan Accreditation Board for Conformity Assessment. Its assessments comply with ISO/IEC 28360 methods.
We plan to expand the scope of our accreditation to respond to the planned addition of evaluation criteria for ultramicroparticles in the 2012 revisions to Blue Angel standards.
- *Chemical emissions
Chemical substances emitted by various materials, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs), ozone and particulates.
Measuring chemical substances released from an office network MFD
Microparticle measurement device
Safety Assessments on Ink, Toner and Other Consumables
Canon assesses the safety and ensures the quality of its ink, toner and other consumables, enabling customers to use our printers and MFDs with confidence. In addition to complying with laws and regulations, we verify an array of safety issues from the earliest stages of development.
With regard to the chemicals that form the raw materials for ink and toner, for example, we carry out assessments related to genetic toxicity, which is thought to be closely linked to carcinogenic (cancer) activity. We perform bacterial reverse mutation tests, in-vitro mammalian chromosome aberration tests and other tests to confirm that all products test negative for genetic toxicity. In addition, from 2011 on we introduced in-vitro mammalian cell micronucleus tests.
Canon's testing laboratories are highly reliable and comply with the Good Laboratory Practice (GLP)* standards in the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Act on the Evaluation of Chemical Substances and Regulation of Their Manufacture, etc., and the Industrial Safety and Health Act.
- *Good Laboratory Practice (GLP)
The standard for the management, testing and reporting of facilities and organizations that operate as testing agencies conducting chemical substance safety assessments. Testing according to GLP standards ensures reproducibility and data reliability. Periodic reviews are carried out by the accrediting government body.
Evaluating Compatibility of Canon Products with Other Manufacturers' PCs
Canon checks products such as printers and digital cameras that connect to PCs to find out whether operational malfunctions or other abnormalities occur when they are connected.
Canon Inc. has installed a Connection Compatibility Testing Room where the compatibility of Canon products with a variety of PCs of other manufacturers, both old and new models, are checked and evaluated for compatibility.
We regularly buy new PCs to furnish the Testing Room, and always seek to perform evaluations in line with the latest PC developments by promptly adapting our equipment for testing whenever new standards, a new OS, new semiconductors, or similar go on the market.
The Testing Room was transferred to the Tamagawa Office in January 2012, where the availability of a bigger facility provides an environment enabling a broader range of evaluations.
Connection compatibility evaluation
Quality Evaluation of Electronic Parts in Canon Products
Canon considers it essential to maintain and improve the quality and reliability of every component to provide customers with products of consistent quality and high reliability.
We operate a certification system for the electronic parts, such as integrated circuits and other semiconductors, resistors and capacitors, incorporated in our products.
When selecting parts under this system, we conduct evaluations and manufacturing process screenings in accordance with standards for each category of parts, ultimately using only electronic parts that meet these standards. For the evaluation of parts, we carry out reliability evaluation testing to confirm the reliability of the parts and structural evaluation to verify that quality assurance has been maintained from the design and manufacturing stages onward.
Should a quality-related issue arise either in the marketplace or during the manufacturing process, we utilize our failure analysis techniques accumulated over the years to determine the cause and assist the parts manufacturer in improving quality, thereby enabling the production of high-quality parts.
Quality Evaluation/Improvement of Electronic Parts
Response to Software Vulnerability
In recent years, network compatibility has been a standard feature of MFDs and other office products. However, incidents of personal and confidential information leaks via networks and other information security problems are increasing. These stem from software vulnerability, whereby a defect enables a third-party intruder or program to gain unauthorized access to data.
To prevent information security problems from occurring with Canon products, we conduct various vulnerability tests on the software for network-compatible products during development, as well as strive to standardize approaches toward and tests for vulnerability risk companywide.
In addition, if a weakness is discovered after product shipment it is vital to minimize its impact on customers by issuing an advisory statement or taking other measures as necessary. Accordingly, in 2009 we created a framework to facilitate quick sharing of information related to vulnerability issues throughout the Company and drafted market response rules to address vulnerability issues. We are currently using the draft as we continue efforts to establish formal rules.
In order to respond to new network-attack techniques, we monitor vulnerability-related market trends for Canon products as well as those of other companies. In addition, we use the aforementioned information-sharing network to share information in a timely fashion so we can respond promptly.
Canon plans to put its formal market-response rules into practice and make improvements as needed in response to market conditions. At the same time, we will also work to share related expertise.
