Safety rated lights better?

I'm ordering a light soon (Streamlight Propolymer Luxeon 3C or 4AA) and was wondering what the physical differences are between regular flashlights and the upgraded safety rated versions. Are they built better or more reliable and why do they cost more? Is there an actual physical difference or are safety rated lights just regular lights that have been thoroughly tested and the ones that pass certain standards are labeled safety rated and the ones that fail are sold as non-safety rated? So the higher cost of a safety rated light - is it because of better materials or just the labor cost of testing the lights?

They should be more reliable than most flashlights, but all flashlights can fail. I am not sure what all the UL tests are, but isn't one of them a drop test? I would think that if a specific flashlight, or rather a group of this specific flashlight, passed these tests then all the future flashlights by this manufacturer would be safety rated. I would assume most of the price difference in lights would come from the tests, while only some of the difference in price would be from actual materials.

What is often referred to as a safety rated light is a light that is designed for hazardous locations. That is to say that they can be safely used in locations that have explosive or ignitable dust, gasses, or possibly liquids depending upon the actual safety rating of the light.

Since the lights are designed to be non sparking / non igniting they "should" be built to a higher standard of materials and quality and thus "should" be more reliable. I have two such lights for use in my volunteer services. One is a hand held, the other a helmet mounted light. Both (to me) are of a higher quality than a standard or "heavy duty" style flashlight. One is "drop rated."

The safety rating are dependent upon the light being maintained in its original manufactured design. The stated bulbs and batteries must be used and the light's o-rings and other safety devices maintained per the manufacturer's instructions.

Thanks guys.

I guess I'll spend the extra couple of bucks to get the safety rated model. Not because I'm worried about explosions, it just seems like a better built/inspected light would be worth a few bucks. Maybe even less chance of getting a faulty switch or something similar...

Now I just have to decide 3C or 4AA...