Product Liability Law and Its Effect on Product Safety

Manufacturers should understand product liability law and consider it pre-sale when they design and manufacture their products and after sale when they deal with potential product safety problems reported to them by consumers. Doing so will result in safer products and, if there is a lawsuit, a better defense.

Duty to Warn Non-English Speaking and Reading Product Users

How does a manufacturer comply with its duty to warn, given the number of people in the U.S. who do not read English or any language? Does the law require multilingual labels or safety symbols, and when is it a good idea to include them?

Preparing For and Implementing Product Recalls in 2022

Recalls are a major contributor to product liability incidents and lawsuits, interactions with government safety agencies, disputes with suppliers and product sellers, and negative publicity with the buying public. New guides have recently been issued that can help a manufacturer and product seller to better understand how to prepare for and implement an effective recall.

Safety Programs and CPSC Mandates

Safety management programs are necessary to help a company make safe products and monitor safety for products in use. The CPSC has provided lots of guidances and mandates over the years on what constitutes an adequate program. These guidances are potentially useful to those companies seeking to establish a CPSC-compliant safety program and should be considered as part of the program development process.

Navigating the “Safety Hierarchy”

The safety hierarchy is a flexible concept that can be helpful in deciding on a final product design. But it can also be a trap for the unwary design engineer. This article will discuss the safety hierarchy concept, how do you comply with its requirements, and what are the problems associated with it?

The Risks of Optional Safety: Is Mandatory Safety Better?

This article discusses the legal and practical issues around the duty to design a safe product and how to decide whether various safety features that aren’t always necessary must be sold as standard features or whether they can be sold separately as options.

Location of Safety Warnings

This article discusses the legal and practical issues around the duty to warn and instruct and where to place safety information on the product and/or in the manual.

Product Liability Marketing Defects

The way you market your product can turn an otherwise safely designed product into an unsafe product that causes injury and creates liability for the manufacturer and product seller.