What if the power supply of your laptop suddenly caught fire, the wooden toy that your infant loves to chew on was poisonous, the electric hedge trimmer suddenly cut off your finger, or the escalator decided to go full speed downwards?
Luckily for the end user, most products are subject to rules and regulations to address these risks and put a pressure on the seller of the products to make safe products.
The rules and regulations could come from an official authority, an interest group, or from a reputable independent body. Examples are many and could be taken from any region/continent of the world. The common denominator for most of these rules and regulations is that there is some kind of requirement for an independent body to examine the product and make a statement about its compliance. This is often referred to as Product Certification or Product Assurance.