PRODUCT DESIGN: Product Safety and Liability

The primary consideration for safety in product design is to assure that the use of the design does not cause injury to humans. Safety and product liability issues, however, can also extend beyond human injury to include property damage and environmental damage from the use of your design. Engineers must also consider the issues of safety in design because of liability arising from the use of an unsafe product. Liability refers to the manufacturer of a machine or product being liable, or financially responsible, for any injury or damage resulting from the use of an unsafe product.

The only way to assure that your design will not cause injury or loss is to design safety into the product. You can design a safe product in three ways. The first method is to design safety directly into the product. Ask yourself, "Is there any probability of injury during the normal use and during failure of your design?" For example, modern downhill ski bindings use a spring-loaded brake that brakes the ski automatically when the ski disengages from the skier's boot. Older ski bindings used an elastic cable attached to the skier's ankle, but this had a tendency to disconnect during a severe fall.

Inherent safety is impossible to design into some products, such as rotating machinery and vehicles. In such cases you use the second method of designing for safety: You include adequate protection for users of the product. Protection devices include safety shields placed around moving and rotating parts, crash protective structures used in vehicles, and "kill" switches that automatically turn a machine off (or on) if there is potential for human injury. For example, new lawnmowers generally include a protective shield covering the grass outlet and include a kill switch that turns the motor off when the operator releases the handle.

The third method used in considering safety is the use of warning labels describing inherent dangers in the product. Although this method does not implement safety in design, it is primarily used as a way to shift the responsibility to the consumer for having ignored the safety guidelines in using the product. In most cases, however, a warning label will not protect you from liability. Protective shields or other devices must be

included in the design.

A product liability suit may be the result of a personal injury due to the operation of a particular product. The manufacturer and designer of a device can be found liable to compensate a worker for losses incurred during the operation or use of their product.

During a product liability trial, the plaintiff attempts to show that the designer and manufacturer of a product are negligent in allowing the product to be put on the market. The plaintiff's attorney may bring charges of negligence against the designer.

To protect themselves in a product liability trial, engineers must use state-of-the-art design procedures during the design process. They must keep records of all calculations and methods used during the design process. Safety considerations must be included in the criteria for all design solutions. The designer must also foresee other ways people could use the product. If a person uses a shop vacuum to remove a gasoline spill, is the

designer responsible when the vacuum catches fire? The courts can decide that a design is poor if the engineer did not foresee improper use of the product. It is imperative that you evaluate all of your alternative solutions against safety considerations. Reject or modify any unsafe elements of your design at this stage in the design process.

Product Safety and Liability

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